House prices dropped slightly by 0.3 per cent in Oxford in January, new figures show.

The drop contributes to the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area suffer a one per cent annual decline.

The average Oxford house price in January was £440,092, Land Registry figures show, a 0.3 per cent decrease on December.

Over the month, the picture was different to that across the south east, where prices increased 0.6 per cent, and Oxford was lower than the 0.5 per cent rise for the UK as a whole.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in Oxford fell by £4,600, putting the area 12th among the south east’s 64 local authorities with price data for annual growth.

The highest annual growth in the region was in Winchester, where property prices increased on average by 7.3 per cent, to £505,000.

At the other end of the scale, properties in Gosport lost 14.1 per cent of their value, giving an average price of £229,000.

First-time buyers in Oxford spent an average of £387,600 on their property. 

This is £5,400 less than a year ago, but £22,900 more than in January 2019.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £488,800 on average in January, 26.1 per cent more than first-time buyers.

Owners of terraced houses saw the biggest fall in property prices in Oxford in January, they dropped 0.5 per cent in price, to £434,369 on average