House prices dropped by 4.8% – more than the average for the South West – in the Forest of Dean in December, new figures show.

The drop contributes to the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area suffer a 6.8% annual decline.

The average the Forest of Dean house price in December was £289,932, Land Registry figures show – a 4.8% decrease on November.

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

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in the Forest of Dean fell by £21,000 – putting the area 24th 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 5.6%, to £449,000. At the other end of the scale, properties in Torridge lost 8.9% of their value, giving an average price of £303,000.

First steps on the property ladder

First-time buyers in the Forest of Dean spent an average of £230,000 on their property – £16,000 less than a year ago, but £36,000 more than in December 2018.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £321,000 on average in December – 39.9% more than first-time buyers.

Property types

Owners of flats saw the biggest fall in property prices in the Forest of Dean in December – they dropped 5.2% in price, to £119,511 on average. Over the last year, prices dropped by 10%.

Among other types of property:

How do property prices in the Forest of Dean compare?

Buyers paid 9.1% less than the average price in the South West (£319,000) in December 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 – £486,000 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 (£218,000 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 December

Annual change to December

Highest and lowest annual growth in the South West