Oxford house prices have dropped slightly in April - but prospective home owners need not get overly excited. 

New figures show the Oxford average has dropped by 0.1 per cent in April which contributes to the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area suffer a two per cent annual decline.

The average Oxford house price in April was £446,424 with Land Registry figures showing a 0.1 per cent decrease on March.

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Over the month, the picture was different to that across the South East, where prices increased 1.4 per cent, and Oxford was lower than the 0.3 per cent rise for the UK as a whole.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in Oxford fell by £9,100 – putting the area 31st among the South East’s 64 local authorities with price data for annual growth.

The highest annual growth in the region was in West Oxfordshire, where property prices increased on average by 7.8 per cent to £399,000.

At the other end of the scale, properties in Canterbury lost 10.3 per cent of their value, giving an average price of £322,000.

First steps on the property ladder

First-time buyers in Oxford spent an average of £393,400 on their property – £8,600 less than a year ago, but £37,900 more than in April 2019.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £495,600 on average in April – 26 per cent more than first-time buyers.

Data reveals owners of detached houses saw the biggest fall in property prices in Oxford in April – they dropped 0.5 per cent in price, to £902,936 on average.

Over the last year, prices dropped by 2.9 per cent.

Among other types of property, there was no change in the price of semi-detached homes this month although they were up 1.6 per cent annually to an average price of £570,148 average.

Terraced homes were down 0.3 per cent monthly and down 1.4 per cent annually with an average cost of £443,518.

There was no change this month in the price of flats although the cost has fallen by 3 per cent annually with an average cost of £281,067.

How do property prices in Oxford compare?

Buyers paid 19 per cent more than the average price in the South East (£375,000) in April for a property in Oxford.

Across the South East, property prices are high compared to those across the UK, where the average cost is £281,000.

The most expensive properties in the South East were in Elmbridge – £632,000 on average, and 1.4 times the price as in Oxford.

Elmbridge properties cost 2.7 times the price as homes in Gosport (£237,000 average), at the other end of the scale.

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