House prices increased by 0.7% – more than the average for the South West – in the Forest of Dean in May, new figures show.

The rise contributes to the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area grow by 2.4% over the last year.

The average the Forest of Dean house price in May was £294,263. Land Registry figures show a 0.7% increase on April.

Over the month, the picture was similar to that across the South West, where prices increased 0.6%, but the Forest of Dean was lower than the 1.2% rise for the UK as a whole.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in the Forest of Dean rose by £7,000 – putting the area ninth 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 10%, to £449,000. At the other end of the scale, properties in South Hams lost 5.5% of their value, giving an average price of £377,000.

First steps on the property ladder

First-time buyers in the Forest of Dean spent an average of £233,300 on their property – £6,200 more than a year ago, and £45,000 more than in May 2019.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £325,800 on average in May – 39.7% more than first-time buyers.

Property types

Owners of detached houses saw the biggest rise in property prices in the Forest of Dean in May – they increased 0.9%, to £386,099 on average. Over the last year, prices rose by 2.1%.

Among other types of property:

How do property prices in the Forest of Dean compare?

Buyers paid 7.5% less than the average price in the South West (£318,000) in May 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 £285,000.

The most expensive properties in the South West were in Cotswold – £497,000 on average, and 1.7 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 May

Annual growth to May

Highest and lowest annual growth in the South West