House prices dropped by 3.7% – more than the average for the South West – in the Forest of Dean in January, new figures show.

But the drop does not reverse the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area achieve 6% annual growth – although this is still the lowest rise in the whole of the Government’s “South West” region, which includes Wiltshire, Somerset, Bristol, Bath, Devon and Cornwall.

The average the Forest of Dean house price in January was £282,762, Land Registry figures show – a 3.7% decrease on December.

Over the month, the picture was worse than that across the South West, where prices decreased 1.1%, and the Forest of Dean underperformed compared to the 0.4% rise for the UK as a whole.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in the Forest of Dean rose by £16,000 – putting the area bottom among the South West’s 29 local authorities with price data for annual growth.

The best annual growth in the region was in North Devon, where property prices increased on average by 24.6%, to £331,000.

Winners and Losers

Owners of detached houses fared worst in the Forest of Dean in January – they dropped 3.8% in price, to £379,083 on average. But over the last year, prices rose by 7.8%.

Among other types of property:

Semi-detached: down 3.5% monthly; up 5.4% annually; £240,359 averageTerraced: down 3.5% monthly; up 3.9% annually; £196,012 averageFlats: down 3.7% monthly; down 0.9% annually; £121,632 average

First steps on the property ladder

First-time buyers in the Forest of Dean spent an average of £222,000 on their property – £11,000 more than a year ago, and £58,000 more than in January 2017.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £315,000 on average in January – 41.9% more than first-time buyers.

How do property prices in the Forest of Dean compare?

Buyers paid 8% less than the average price in the South West (£307,000) in January for a property in the Forest of Dean. Across the South West, property prices are lower than those across the UK, where the average cost £274,000.

The most expensive properties in the South West were in Cotswold – £467,000 on average, and 1.7 times as much as more than in the Forest of Dean. Cotswold properties cost 2.3 times as much as homes in Plymouth (£206,000 average), at the other end of the scale.

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