House prices in Milton Keynes rise more than the average across South East

House prices increased by 2.7% in Milton Keynes during January, new figures show.

The boost contributes to the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area achieve 11.7% annual growth.

The average Milton Keynes house price in January was £301,469, Land Registry figures show – a 2.7% increase on December.

Over the month, the picture was better than that across the South East, where prices increased 0.5%, and Milton Keynes outperformed the 0.4% rise for the UK as a whole.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in Milton Keynes rose by £32,000 – putting the area 32nd among the South East’s 64 local authorities with price data for annual growth.

The best annual growth in the region was in East Hampshire, where property prices increased on average by 16.7%, to £456,000. At the other end of the scale, properties in Slough gained just 2.5% in value, giving an average price of £307,000.

> Winners and Losers

Owners of flats saw the biggest improvement in property prices in Milton Keynes in January – they increased 2.9%, to £161,723 on average. Over the last year, prices rose by 7.1%.

> Among other types of property:

Detached: up 2.3% monthly; up 14.8% annually; £520,266 average

Semi-detached: up 2.7% monthly; up 12.8% annually; £304,426 average

Terraced: up 2.8% monthly; up 9.7% annually; £249,651 average

> First steps on the property ladder

First-time buyers in Milton Keynes spent an average of £243,000 on their property – £24,000 more than a year ago, and £37,000 more than in January 2017.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £353,000 on average in January – 45.4% more than first-time buyers.

> How do property prices in Milton Keynes compare?

Buyers paid 20.3% less than the average price in the South East (£378,000) in January for a property in Milton Keynes. Across the South East, property prices are low compared to those across the UK, where the average cost £274,000.

The most expensive properties in the South East were in Elmbridge – £695,000 on average, and 2.3 times as much as more than in Milton Keynes. Elmbridge properties cost three times as much as homes in Portsmouth (£235,000 average), at the other end of the scale.

The highest property prices across the UK were in Kensington and Chelsea.