House prices dropped by 1.8% in Reading in April, new figures show.

But the drop does not reverse the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area achieve 3.3% annual growth.

The average Reading house price in April was £297,944, Land Registry figures show – a 1.8% decrease on March.

Over the month, the picture was better than that across the South East, where prices decreased 2.3%, and Reading outperformed the 1.9% drop for the UK as a whole.

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Over the last year, the average sale price of property in Reading rose by £9,500 – putting the area 61st among the South East’s 70 local authorities for annual growth.

The best annual growth in the region was in Hastings, where property prices increased on average by 14.6%, to £245,000. At the other end of the scale, properties in West Oxfordshire lost 3.2% of their value, giving an average price of £319,000.

Winners and Losers

Owners of flats fared worst in Reading in April – they dropped 2% in price, to £211,072 on average. But over the last year, prices rose by 1.2%.

Among other types of property:

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Detached: down 1.9% monthly; up 4.1% annually; £613,204 averageSemi-detached: down 1.6% monthly; up 4.2% annually; £380,607 averageTerraced: down 1.7% monthly; up 4.4% annually; £301,940 average

First steps on the property ladder

First-time buyers in Reading spent an average of £266,600 on their property – £7,600 more than a year ago, and £1,900 less than in April 2016.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £335,300 on average in April – 25.8% more than first-time buyers.

How do property prices in Reading compare?

Buyers paid 12.7% less than the average price in the South East (£341,000) in April for a property in Reading. Across the South East, property prices are higher than those across the UK, where the average cost £251,000.

The most expensive properties in the South East were in Elmbridge – £648,000 on average, and 2.2 times as much as in Reading. Elmbridge properties cost three times as much as homes in Southampton (£218,000 average), at the other end of the scale.

The highest property prices across the UK were in Kensington and Chelsea, where the average April sale price of £1.1 million could buy 11 properties in East Ayrshire (average £105,000).

Factfile

Average property price in April

Reading: £297,944The South East: £341,358UK: £250,772Annual growth to April

Reading: +3.3%The South East: +5%UK: +8.9%Best and worst annual growth in the South East

Hastings: +14.6%West Oxfordshire: -3.2%