Reading house prices increased slightly in May

​The ​boost ​contributes to the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area ​achieve 0.8 per cent annual growth​.

The average Reading house price in May was £292,712, Land Registry figures show​ – a 0.4 per cent increase on April.

Over the month, the picture was ​better than that across the South East, where prices ​decreased 1.1 per cent, and Reading outperformed the 0.3% rise for the UK as a whole.

READ MORE: Picture showing crowded Reading street divides opinion on face masks

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in Reading ​​rose by £2,300 – putting the ​area 52nd among the South East’s 67 local authorities for annual growth.

​The best annual growth in the region was in West Oxfordshire, where properties increased on average by 9.4 per cent, to £347,000. ​At the other end of the scale, properties in Slough dropped 2.8 per cent in value, giving an average price of £284,000.

Winners and losers

Owners of flats saw the biggest improvement in property prices in Reading in May – they increased 0.7 per cent, to £213,597 on average. Over the last year, prices rose by 0.3 per cent.

Among other types of property:

Detached: down 0.2 per cent monthly; up 0.8 [er cent annually; £590,771 average

Semi-detached: up 0.4 per cent monthly; up 1.3 per cent annually; £369,842 average

Terraced: up 0.2 per cent monthly; up 0.9 per cent annually; £292,285 average

​

First steps on the property ladder

First-time buyers in Reading spent an average of £​263,000 on their property – ​£1,800 more than a year ago, ​and ​£37,300 more than in May 2015.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £​327,500 on average in May​ – 24.5 per cent more than first-time buyers.

How do property prices in Reading compare?

Buyers paid 9.8 per cent less than the average price in the South East (£325,000) in May for a property in Reading. Across the South East, property prices are high compared to those across the UK, where the average cost £236,000.

The most expensive properties in the South East were in Elmbridge – £594,000 on average, and twice as much as in Reading.

Elmbridge properties cost 2.8 times as much as homes in Southampton (£210,000 average), at the other end of the scale.

The highest property prices across the UK were in Kensington and Chelsea, where the average May sale price of £1.4 million could buy 16 properties in Burnley (average £88,000).

Factfile

Average property price in May

Reading: £292,712

The South East: £324,659

UK: £235,673

Annual growth to May

Reading: +0.8 per cent

The South East: +2.0 per cent

UK: +2.9 per cent

Best and worst annual growth in the South East

READ MORE: Coronavirus 'HOTSPOTS' in Reading

West Oxfordshire: +9.4 per cent

Slough: -2.8 per cent.