House prices remained steady in Southampton in December, new figures show.

​The ​lack of movement ​maintains the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area ​suffer a 1.6% annual decline​.

The average Southampton house price in December was £208,586, Land Registry figures show​.

Over the month, the picture was ​similar to that across the South East, where prices ​decreased 0.3%​, but Southampton underperformed compared to the 0.3% rise for the UK as a whole.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in Southampton ​​remained level – putting the ​area 57th among the South East’s 67 local authorities for annual

growth.

​The best annual growth in the region was in Sevenoaks, where properties increased on average by 7.5%, to £450,000. ​At the other end of the scale, properties in Tandridge dropped 8.1% in value, giving an average price of £426,000.

l Winners and Losers

Owners of detached houses saw the biggest improvement in property prices in Southampton in December – they increased 0.9%, to £358,666 on average– but over the last year, prices dropped by 0.8%.

Among other types of property:

Semi-detached: up 0.2% monthly; down 0.4% annually; £255,385 average

Terraced: down 0.3% monthly; down 1.3% annually; £209,418 average

Flats: down 0.2% monthly; down 2.9% annually; £151,645 average

​First steps on the property ladder

First-time buyers in Southampton spent an average of £​187,200 on their property – ​£3,500 less than a year ago, ​and ​£31,000 more than in December 2014.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £​237,000 on average in December​ – 26.6% more than first-time buyers.

l How do property prices in Southampton compare?

​Buyers paid less for properties in Southampton than anywhere else in the South East in December. The average price paid in South Bucks (£613,000), at the other end of the scale, would buy 2.9 homes in Southampton.

The highest property prices across the UK were in Kensington and Chelsea, where the average December sale price of £1.3 million could buy 14 properties in Burnley (average £92,000).

Across the South East, property prices are lower than those across the UK, where the average cost £235,000.

Average property price in December

Southampton: £208,586

The South East: £325,050

UK: £234,742