House prices dropped by 1.5% – more than the average for the South West – in South Hams in July, new figures show.

But the drop does not reverse the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area remain level.

The average South Hams house price in July was £417,957, Land Registry figures show – a 1.5% decrease on June.

Over the month, the picture was different to that across the South West, where prices decreased 0.2%, and South Hams was lower than the 0.5% rise for the UK as a whole.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in South Hams rose by £81 – putting the area 19th among the South West’s 26 local authorities with price data for annual growth.

The highest annual growth in the region was in the Forest of Dean, where property prices increased on average by 5.9%, to £321,000. At the other end of the scale, properties in West Devon lost 3.1% of their value, giving an average price of £312,000.

First steps on the property ladder

First-time buyers in South Hams spent an average of £331,790 on their property – £670 less than a year ago, but £96,700 more than in July 2018.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £467,820 on average in July – 41% more than first-time buyers.

Property types

Owners of flats saw the biggest fall in property prices in South Hams in July – they dropped 1.9% in price, to £228,049 on average. Over the last year, prices dropped by 1%.

Among other types of property:

How do property prices in South Hams compare?

Buyers paid 29.1% more than the average price in the South West (£324,000) in July for a property in South Hams. Across the South West, property prices are higher than those across the UK, where the average cost is £290,000.

The most expensive properties in the South West were in Cotswold – £482,000 on average, and 1.2 times the price as in South Hams. Cotswold properties cost 2.2 times the price as homes in Plymouth (£223,000 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 July

Annual change to July

Highest and lowest annual growth in the South West