House prices in East Hampshire increased slightly in February, new figures show.

Figures from the Office for National Statistics show the average East Hampshire house price in the year to February was £431,998 – a 0.8% increase on January.

The picture was different to that across the South East, where prices decreased by 0.3%.

The rise in East Hampshire contributes to the longer-term trend in the area, which has seen property prices in the area grow by 0.1% over the last year.

It means the area ranked 62nd among the South East’s 64 local authorities for annual growth, with the average price in East Hampshire rising by £490 over the past year.

The highest annual growth in the South East was in Sevenoaks, where property prices increased on average by 10.8%.

At the other end of the scale, properties in Eastbourne lost 3.3% of their value.

Meanwhile, across the UK, average house prices soared by 5.4% in the year to February – the largest increase in more than two years.

House prices growth has been accelerating since last summer, while activity has picked up as buyers rushed to beat stamp duty increases.

Experts said there was a rush among home buyers to complete their purchases ahead of stamp duty discounts in England and Northern Ireland becoming less generous.

From April, first-time buyers started paying stamp duty on properties costing more than £300,000, while they were previously exempt from paying the tax on properties up to £425,000.

Separate figures from the ONS show the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) inflation eased to 2.6% in March, from 2.8% in February.

Sarah Coles, head of personal finance at Hargreaves Lansdown, agreed these figures showed the "peak of activity, as buyers rushed purchases through the system before the stamp duty holiday ran out at the end of the month".

Jason Tebb, president of property search portal OnTheMarket, said: "Affordability remains a challenge but with a number of lenders reducing their mortgage pricing over the past few weeks, this may continue to ease if swap rates decline and other lenders follow suit.

"Cheaper mortgage rates would certainly help boost activity and transactions, which are of benefit not just to the housing market but wider economy."

Swap rates – which are used by lenders to set mortgages – have dropped since US president Donald Trump’s tariffs announcement earlier in April, amid expectations that interest rates will be cut further in the coming months.