House prices dropped by 0.6% – more than the average for the South West – in the Forest of Dean in September, new figures show.

The drop contributes to the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area suffer a 1.3% annual decline.

The average the Forest of Dean house price in September was £313,693, Land Registry figures show – a 0.6% decrease on August.

Over the month, the picture was different to that across the South West, where prices decreased 0.1%, and the Forest of Dean was lower than the 0.5% drop for the UK as a whole.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in the Forest of Dean fell by £4,200 – putting the area 15th among the South West’s 26 local authorities with price data for annual growth.

The highest annual growth in the region was in Bath and North East Somerset, where property prices increased on average by 3.8%, to £454,000. At the other end of the scale, properties in West Devon lost 7.8% of their value, giving an average price of £308,000.

First steps on the property ladder

First-time buyers in the Forest of Dean spent an average of £247,500 on their property – £3,100 less than a year ago, but £54,300 more than in September 2018.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £348,500 on average in September – 40.8% more than first-time buyers.

Property types

Owners of flats saw the biggest fall in property prices in the Forest of Dean in September – they dropped 1.7% in price, to £129,565 on average. Over the last year, prices dropped by 4.1%.

Among other types of property:

How do property prices in the Forest of Dean compare?

Buyers paid 4.6% less than the average price in the South West (£329,000) in September 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 is £291,000.

The most expensive properties in the South West were in Cotswold – £503,000 on average, and 1.6 times the price as in the Forest of Dean. Cotswold properties cost 2.2 times the price as homes in Plymouth (£224,000 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 September

Annual change to September

Highest and lowest annual growth in the South West