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Wateringbury market report ME18, Maidstone
The ME18 (Wateringbury) house price history in full, 1995 to 2026, in cash and in today's money. The raw material for this page is 3,295 HM Land Registry entries for ME18 (Maidstone), going back to 1995: each an actual purchase at an actual price. Rents come from the ONS. Valuations, estimates and asking prices appear nowhere in it.
Sales recorded to July 2026; rents are ONS figures for May 2026. The page rebuilds with each monthly release.
In short: 49 registered 2026 sales put the ME18 (Maidstone) median at £498,000, up 3% on five years earlier, with a mean of £542,800, and by floor area homes here have averaged about £4,410 per square metre over the last five years. Everything rests on 3,295 completed HM Land Registry sales since 1995, refreshed monthly; valuations and asking prices play no part.
ME18 is the postcode district covering Wateringbury, Mereworth, Teston in Maidstone. Districts are a practical way to slice a market: small enough to mean something locally, big enough to have a steady flow of sales to measure.
Where ME18 sits
Shaded by median price on the same scale as the average prices map. Click any shape to open it on the live map with every sale plotted at its address, or zoom in past street level to see the sold homes right here.
The going rate for a home in ME18
Across 49 registered 2026 sales, the typical (median) ME18 home went for £498,000. The mean is £542,800, somewhat above it, as happens wherever a market carries an expensive tail.
ME18 prices by floor area
Per square metre, ME18 homes have averaged around £4,410 over the last five years of sales. The floor areas behind the figure come from Energy Performance Certificates, and the by-the-metre view is the fair comparison across home sizes.
The national median for England and Wales is £285,000, which puts ME18 75% above the country at large.
ME18's median sold price, 1995 to 2026
The cash median beside its inflation-adjusted twin (ONS CPIH). The adjusted line answers the harder question, whether homes really got dearer. Hover for the figures; the legend toggles each series.
See this chart as a table
| Year | Median (cash) | Median (today's £) | Sales |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | £498,000 | £498,000 | 49 |
| 2025 | £434,000 | £444,378 | 72 |
| 2024 | £445,000 | £473,126 | 72 |
| 2023 | £435,000 | £477,959 | 69 |
| 2022 | £500,000 | £586,307 | 95 |
| 2021 | £485,000 | £614,073 | 201 |
| 2020 | £437,500 | £567,665 | 114 |
| 2019 | £415,000 | £543,966 | 95 |
| 2018 | £400,000 | £533,208 | 86 |
| 2017 | £322,500 | £439,858 | 100 |
| 2016 | £339,200 | £474,544 | 96 |
| 2015 | £330,000 | £466,290 | 95 |
| 2014 | £260,000 | £368,855 | 110 |
| 2013 | £278,000 | £400,014 | 77 |
| 2012 | £275,000 | £404,766 | 86 |
| 2011 | £298,800 | £451,073 | 52 |
| 2010 | £269,000 | £421,861 | 82 |
| 2009 | £266,000 | £427,597 | 79 |
| 2008 | £257,500 | £422,097 | 48 |
| 2007 | £286,000 | £485,136 | 124 |
| 2006 | £232,500 | £403,590 | 152 |
| 2005 | £240,000 | £427,103 | 81 |
| 2004 | £235,000 | £426,806 | 118 |
| 2003 | £210,000 | £386,871 | 121 |
| 2002 | £172,000 | £323,617 | 151 |
| 2001 | £169,000 | £324,894 | 128 |
| 2000 | £124,800 | £244,920 | 94 |
| 1999 | £125,000 | £249,118 | 121 |
| 1998 | £133,500 | £269,479 | 176 |
| 1997 | £115,000 | £235,842 | 136 |
| 1996 | £100,000 | £210,896 | 112 |
| 1995 | £80,000 | £173,908 | 103 |
In cash terms the typical ME18 home went from £80,000 in 1995 to £498,000 in 2026, roughly 6 times the price. Inflation explains only part of it: in today's money the rise is still about 186%, a genuine increase in what a home here costs. The real-terms peak came in 2021, and today's median remains roughly 19% under it: a 2021 buyer is still waiting to get that price back in today's money.
Year-on-year change in the ME18 median
Each bar is the change on the year before, in cash. The zero line is the boundary between rising and falling.
The strongest year on record here is 2001 (+35.4% on the year before); the weakest, 2023 (−13.0%). Single-year swings like these are why the annualised table below matters more than any one year's headline.
The long view: annualised growth
| Period | Cash, per year | Real terms, per year |
|---|---|---|
| 1 years (since 2025) | +14.7% | +12.1% |
| 5 years (since 2021) | +0.5% | −4.1% |
| 10 years (since 2016) | +3.9% | +0.5% |
| 20 years (since 2006) | +3.9% | +1.1% |
The table annualises median growth over each period, with the real column deflated by ONS CPIH. Smoothing hides the cycle (see the chart above for it), and none of this forecasts: it is the record.
Detached, semi, terraced, flat: four markets in one
A single median hides the split beneath it. Sales of detached houses dominate the record here, 39% of the typed total. In 2025, the last year both were recorded here, a detached home traded at £645,000 against £140,000 for a flat, 4.6 times the price.
Median by property type, ME18
One line per type, years with too few sales omitted. Hover for the year's figures; click a legend entry to isolate a type.
| Type | Median (2026) | Sales that year | All-time sales |
|---|---|---|---|
| Detached | £586,200 | 26 | 1,296 |
| Semi-detached | £445,000 | 13 | 1,019 |
| Terraced | £375,000 | 6 | 718 |
| Flats | £140,000 (2025) | – | 249 |
Sales activity in ME18
Sales per year, counted
Recorded sales per year. The dip after 2008 is the financial crisis; the last bar is still filling in as recent sales get registered.
The last five years, month by month
Monthly registrations. The sawtooth is seasonal; the register runs weeks behind completions at the right-hand edge.
Over the last twelve months of data, 76 sales completed in ME18. Like most of England and Wales, turnover never fully recovered from 2008: the market here averaged 121 sales a year before the financial crisis and 71 a year over the last five. Price without volume misleads: a median built on few sales jumps around, and one street can tilt it. Keep in mind too that the latest year is still filling in, since sales reach the register weeks or months after completion.
What homes rent for around ME18
For renting purposes ME18 sits in Maidstone. The ONS average private rent there is £1,290 a month (May 2026). The spread runs from £914 a month for a typical one-bed to £1,962 at four-plus bedrooms, which is size doing most of the pricing.
Average monthly rent by size, Maidstone
ONS Price Index of Private Rents, May 2026.
£1,290 a month is £15,480 a year, which against the £498,000 median sold price makes a gross yield of 3.1%. Gross means before letting costs, voids, maintenance and tax: treat it as a ceiling. The ONS publishes rents by local authority, so neighbouring districts under the same authority share these numbers.
How ME18 trades
This is a thin market: 76 sales in the last twelve months of data. With that few transactions, one street selling well (or one block of cheap transfers) can move the median, so read the year lines as a range rather than a verdict. Expect volatility in the annual figures: swings past ten per cent show up repeatedly above, and they usually reflect the mix of homes sold in a given year rather than genuine repricing. ME18 is currently the dearest district of its postcode area by median price.
ME18 (Wateringbury): the questions that come up
Is ME18 (Wateringbury) a good place to buy a house?
How much did a house sell for in ME18 (Wateringbury)?
Are property prices falling in ME18 (Wateringbury)?
What happens to ME18 prices now?
Prediction is not this page's business. Its business is the record, which says: the median is up 3% over five years in cash but down 19% after inflation. Read the volume chart with the price chart before acting on either, remembering that registrations trail the deals themselves by weeks.
On the market in ME18 today
Everything above is what homes in ME18 sold for. Turning to what is actually available: 9 homes on the market right now, from 6 agents publishing to HomesIndex, at a typical asking price 41% above the ME18 median sold price.
Of everything listed here, 11% asks less than the sold record of comparable homes. The comparison behind each listing uses recent recorded sales of similar homes close by.
The "under comparable sales" label measures each asking price against real nearby sales of similar homes: an opening position for a conversation rather than a valuation. The home itself still needs looking at.
See every ME18 home for sale on the map →
Refreshed every Monday and Thursday from agents' own feeds to HomesIndex, so a sample of the market rather than all of it. An asking price remains an ask, not a sale.
What another bedroom costs in ME
What homes of each size actually sold for across the ME area, from the Land Registry record. Size steps are fiercely local. A third bedroom adds a quarter to the price in some areas and close to four fifths in others, which is why no national rule of thumb survives contact with a real market.
| Type | 1 bed | 2 bed | 3 bed | 4 bed | 5 bed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Detached | — | £360,000 | £494,995 (+37%) | £690,997 (+40%) | £920,000 (+33%) |
| Semi-detached | £282,000 | £327,000 (+16%) | £385,000 (+18%) | £475,000 (+23%) | £615,000 (+29%) |
| Terraced | £250,000 | £275,000 (+10%) | £315,000 (+15%) | £405,000 (+29%) | £567,500 (+40%) |
| Flat | £166,500 | £225,000 (+35%) | £340,000 (+51%) | — | — |
Four years of recorded sales, split by built form and bedroom count. The register does not state bedrooms, so sizes come from each home's EPC record and a few homes will land one size out. Sizes with too few homes to be meaningful are left blank.
The risers and the fallers
ME18 ranks 15 of 20 in the ME area on five-year growth. The gap between the top and bottom of this chart is the difference between buying well and buying badly in the same city.
Five-year change in the median, ME area districts
Cash-terms risers and fallers across the area; click any row for that district's full report.
Inside ME18, sector by sector
Postcode sectors are the next slice down, each a group of streets with its own market report. Prices can differ sharply between two sectors a few minutes' walk apart.
| Sector | Median (latest) | Sales that year |
|---|---|---|
| ME18 5 | £455,000 | 35 |
| ME18 6 | £555,000 | 14 |
How ME18 compares nearby
Same city, different markets. The neighbouring districts of the ME area, dearest first:
| District | Median | 5-year |
|---|---|---|
| ME18 (this report) | £498,000 | +3% |
| ME19 | £440,000 | +1% |
| ME20 | £377,500 | +16% |
| ME3 | £375,000 | +8% |
| ME17 | £375,000 | -1% |
| ME16 | £352,000 | +7% |
| ME9 | £350,000 | +3% |
| ME15 | £338,000 | +4% |
| ME8 | £330,000 | +8% |
| ME2 | £325,000 | +14% |
| ME13 | £325,000 | -8% |
| ME14 | £323,800 | -3% |
| ME5 | £305,000 | +11% |
| ME1 | £302,800 | +7% |
| ME6 | £288,500 | +1% |
| ME12 | £285,000 | +6% |
| ME10 | £284,000 | +11% |
| ME7 | £268,500 | +9% |
| ME11 | £250,000 | +19% |
| ME4 | £249,500 | +4% |
Selling in ME18? Start from the sold record
Start from what homes here actually sold for, not an estimate. Before booking a house valuation or flat valuation in ME18, use the average prices map for a rough value: zoom from ME18's shading down to the sold homes on your own street. The figures above are every recorded ME18 sale; agents price with this same Land Registry record, and now you have it too.
For local estate agents: each district report carries one featured-agent spot, free while founding places last. Claim ME18.
Keep digging
Answers come from the same Land Registry data behind this report, and the AI knows you are asking about ME18. Free, with a one click sign in.
See every individual ME18 sale on the live map, mapped to the exact address, or zoom the average prices map from neighbourhood shading down to single homes. The report tool writes a custom answer to a specific question, and the mortgage and rent calculator on any sale runs the numbers on a real purchase.
About the numbers: everything is computed from HM Land Registry Price Paid Data (Crown copyright, OGL v3.0), geocoded to the address; today's-money figures use the ONS CPIH index, and rents are the ONS Price Index of Private Rents by local authority. These are medians of recorded sales, not valuations, and none of it is financial advice.