The average Cherwell home was £355,981 in August, up 2.6% in a year while the South East fell 0.8%. July's 4.7% rise has been revised down to 4.1%.
The average home in Cherwell was worth £355,981 in August 2026, up £9,074 (2.6%) on August 2025. Across the South East, prices fell 0.8% over the same year.
The figures come from HM Land Registry’s UK House Price Index for August 2026, published on 21 October. England as a whole rose 0.4%.
Of the 64 local authority areas in the South East, Cherwell had the fourth fastest rise. The three ahead of it:
- Vale of White Horse, 4.6%
- Epsom and Ewell, 3.2%
- Eastleigh, 2.9%
Prices fell over the year in 35 of the 64. Across all 295 local authority areas in England, Cherwell ranked 75th. (All from the August 2026 full data file.)
The index figure is a mean average of sold prices, adjusted for the mix of homes sold. It is not a median, and a mean is pulled upwards by the most expensive sales.
Slower than last month, but prices did not fall
On last month’s figures, Cherwell prices were rising at 4.7% a year. So 2.6% looks like a sharp slowdown. Most of it is not.
- July has been revised down. We reported July at £356,935 and 4.7%. The August file now puts July at £355,178 and 4.1%, as more completed sales were added.
- August itself was up. The average rose 0.2% between July and August.
- The comparison month is strong. In August 2025 the Cherwell average jumped 1.7% in a single month, to £346,907. A rise of that size drops out of the annual rate this month, and it pulls the figure down.
Here is the annual rate on the revised figures:
- February 2026: -0.4%
- March: +0.6%
- April: +1.7%
- May: +3.7%
- June: +3.9%
- July: +4.1%
- August: +2.6%
The highest Cherwell average in a series running back to 1995 is now £356,027 in May 2026. August is £46 below it, the second highest month on record. (Series: Cherwell, UK HPI.)
What rose, and what did not
| Property type | Average, August 2026 | Change on August 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £571,986 | +1.9% |
| Semi-detached | £355,133 | +3.5% |
| Terraced | £294,660 | +3.5% |
| Flat or maisonette | £172,531 | +0.5% |
| All property types | £355,981 | +2.6% |
| First-time buyer purchases | £305,382 | +3.1% |
Source: HM Land Registry UK HPI, Cherwell, August 2026.
Semis and terraces led again, as they have done since May. Detached homes slowed most.
Cherwell’s flats are still edging up. Across England the average flat fell 2.9% in the year to August.
The first-time buyer average rose 3.1%, a little faster than the market as a whole.
Fewer homes are selling
Sales counts lag the prices by two months. The latest, for June 2026, is 121 sales in Cherwell. In June 2025 there were 211. Both figures will rise a little as late registrations come in, but the gap is large.
Cherwell against the neighbours
| Area | Average price | Annual change |
|---|---|---|
| Vale of White Horse | £411,712 | +4.6% |
| Cherwell | £355,981 | +2.6% |
| South Oxfordshire | £471,427 | +2.2% |
| Oxfordshire | £418,847 | +1.3% |
| Stratford-on-Avon | £396,711 | +1.3% |
| England | £293,525 | +0.4% |
| West Northamptonshire | £289,726 | +0.2% |
| South East | £379,953 | -0.8% |
| West Oxfordshire | £416,123 | -2.3% |
| Oxford | £478,080 | -2.9% |
Three things stand out:
- Cherwell is still the cheapest Oxfordshire district. Its average is £62,866 below the county’s £418,847, and £122,099 below Oxford.
- North Oxfordshire is outpacing the rest of the county. Only Vale of White Horse rose faster. Oxford and West Oxfordshire fell.
- Over the northern border, prices are flat. West Northamptonshire is cheaper than Cherwell and rose 0.2%. Stratford-on-Avon district is dearer and rose 1.3%.
Banbury is not Bicester
The district figure hides a split. Our own analysis of Land Registry completed sales, on the Banbury house prices page, found the median sale in Banbury over the year to 30 June 2026 was £290,000, against £346,000 in Bicester.
So a typical Banbury sale sits well under the £355,981 district average, close to the terraced figure.
What it means for you
- If you are selling, prices are close to the highest the index has recorded here, but fewer homes are selling. Expect buyers to take longer.
- If you are buying a first home, the first-time buyer average of £305,382 is still rising faster than the market overall.
- If you are reading the headline rate, the drop from 4.7% to 2.6% is mostly a revision and a strong month last year dropping out, not prices falling.
- Every figure here is provisional. The Land Registry revises recent months as more sales are registered, so expect August to move next month too.
Our July report used the first July figures, which have since been revised as set out above.
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