House prices increased by 2% – more than the average for the South West – in the Forest of Dean in October, new figures show.

But the rise does not reverse the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area suffer a 2.6% annual decline.

The average the Forest of Dean house price in October was £313,904, Land Registry figures show – a 2% increase on September.

Over the month, the picture was different to that across the South West, where prices increased 0.9%, and the Forest of Dean was above the 0.7% drop for the UK as a whole.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in the Forest of Dean fell by £8,400 – putting the area 17th among the South West’s 26 local authorities with price data for annual growth.

The highest annual growth in the region was in South Hams, where property prices increased on average by 4.7%, to £460,000. At the other end of the scale, properties in Torbay lost 6.1% of their value, giving an average price of £251,000.

First steps on the property ladder

First-time buyers in the Forest of Dean spent an average of £247,600 on their property – £6,400 less than a year ago, but £51,700 more than in October 2018.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £348,700 on average in October – 40.8% more than first-time buyers.

Property types

Owners of semi-detached houses saw the biggest rise in property prices in the Forest of Dean in October – they increased 2.1%, to £269,584 on average. Over the last year, prices dropped by 2.4%.

Among other types of property:

How do property prices in the Forest of Dean compare?

Buyers paid 5% less than the average price in the South West (£330,000) in October 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 £288,000.

The most expensive properties in the South West were in Cotswold – £516,000 on average, and 1.6 times the price as in the Forest of Dean. Cotswold properties cost 2.4 times the price as homes in Plymouth (£218,000 average), at the other end of the scale.

The highest property prices across the UK were in Kensington and Chelsea, at £1.4 million.

Factfile

Average property price in October

Annual change to October

Highest and lowest annual growth in the South West