House prices increased by 1.5 per cent in Oxford in November, new figures show.

The rise contributes to the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area grow by 5.7 per cent over the last year, the highest in the South East.

The average Oxford house price in November was £507,001, Land Registry figures show, a 1.5 per cent increase on October.

Over the month, the picture was different to that across the South East, where prices decreased 0.4 per cent, and Oxford was above the 0.8 per cent drop for the UK as a whole.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in Oxford rose by £27,000, putting the area top among the South East’s 64 local authorities with price data for annual growth.

At the other end of the scale, properties in Surrey Heath lost 8.6% of their value, giving an average price of £430,000.

First-time buyers in Oxford spent an average of £444,000 on their property, £22,000 more than a year ago, and £83,000 more than in November 2018.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £567,000 on average in November, 27.7 per cent more than first-time buyers.

Owners of flats saw the biggest rise in property prices in Oxford in November – they increased 2.6%, to £314,132 on average. Over the last year, prices rose by 5.5%.