House prices dropped by 1.7% – more than the average for the South West – in the Forest of Dean in March, new figures show.

But the drop does not reverse the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area grow by 8.7% over the last year.

The average the Forest of Dean house price in March was £322,711, Land Registry figures show – a 1.7% decrease on February.

Over the month, the picture was different to that across the South West, where prices decreased 0.6%, and the Forest of Dean was lower than the 1.2% drop for the UK as a whole.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in the Forest of Dean rose by £26,000 – putting the area sixth 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 12.2%, to £279,000. At the other end of the scale, properties in Bath and North East Somerset gained 1.1% in value, giving an average price of £421,000.

First steps on the property ladder

First-time buyers in the Forest of Dean spent an average of £254,000 on their property – £20,000 more than a year ago, and £73,000 more than in March 2018.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £359,000 on average in March – 41.4% more than first-time buyers.

Property types

Owners of flats saw the biggest fall in property prices the Forest of Dean in March – they dropped 2.3% in price, to £135,510 on average. But over the last year, prices rose by 5.6%.

Among other types of property:

How do property prices in the Forest of Dean compare?

Buyers paid 1% less than the average price in the South West (£326,000) in March for a property in the Forest of Dean. Across the South West, property prices are roughly the same as those across the UK, where the average cost £285,000.

The most expensive properties in the South West were in Cotswold – £511,000 on average, and 1.6 times as much as more than in the Forest of Dean. Cotswold properties cost 2.4 times as much as homes in Plymouth (£217,000 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 March

Annual growth to March

Highest and lowest annual growth in the South West