House prices dropped by 2.8% in the Forest of Dean in April, new figures show.

But the drop does not reverse the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area grow by 6.6% over the last year.

The average the Forest of Dean house price in April was £316,609, Land Registry figures show – a 2.8% decrease on March.

Over the month, the picture was different to that across the South West, where prices increased 0.2%, and the Forest of Dean was lower than the 0.5% rise for the UK as a whole.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in the Forest of Dean rose by £20,000 – putting the area 10th among the South West’s 26 local authorities with price data for annual growth.

The highest annual growth in the region was in Swindon, where property prices increased on average by 12.4%, to £280,000. At the other end of the scale, properties in Bath and North East Somerset gained 3% in value, giving an average price of £435,000.

First steps on the property ladder

First-time buyers in the Forest of Dean spent an average of £249,000 on their property – £15,000 more than a year ago, and £70,000 more than in April 2018.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £352,000 on average in April – 41.4% more than first-time buyers.

Property types

Owners of terraced houses saw the biggest fall in property prices in the Forest of Dean in April – they dropped 2.9% in price, to £219,582 on average. But over the last year, prices rose by 6.1%.

Among other types of property:

How do property prices in the Forest of Dean compare?

Buyers paid 3.2% less than the average price in the South West (£327,000) in April for a property in the Forest of Dean. Across the South West, property prices are higher than those across the UK, where the average cost £286,000.

The most expensive properties in the South West were in Cotswold – £489,000 on average, and 1.5 times the price as in the Forest of Dean. Cotswold properties cost 2.2 times the price as homes in Plymouth (£221,000 average), at the other end of the scale.

The highest property prices across the UK were in Kensington and Chelsea.

Factfile

Average property price in April

Annual growth to April

Highest and lowest annual growth in the South West