House prices dropped slightly, by 0.4%, in South Hams in March, new figures show.

But the drop does not reverse the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area grow by 4.4% over the last year.

The average South Hams house price in March was £398,967. Land Registry figures show a 0.4% decrease on February.

Over the month, the picture was different to that across the South West, where prices increased 0.2%, and South Hams was lower than the 0.7% rise for the UK as a whole.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in South Hams rose by £17,000 – putting the area fourth among the South West’s 26 local authorities with price data for annual growth.

The highest annual growth in the region was in Stroud, where property prices increased on average by 9.8%, to £357,000. At the other end of the scale, properties in the Forest of Dean lost 5.5% of their value, giving an average price of £290,000.

First steps on the property ladder

First-time buyers in South Hams spent an average of £318,000 on their property – £14,000 more than a year ago, and £73,000 more than in March 2019.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £445,000 on average in March – 39.8% more than first-time buyers.

Property types

Owners of detached houses saw the biggest fall in property prices in South Hams in March – they dropped 0.6% in price, to £591,009 on average. But over the last year, prices rose by 3.8%.

Among other types of property:

How do property prices in South Hams compare?

Buyers paid 26.2% more than the average price in the South West (£316,000) in March for a property in South Hams. Across the South West, property prices are higher than those across the UK, where the average cost is £283,000.

The most expensive properties in the South West were in Cotswold – £496,000 on average, and 1.2 times the price as in South Hams. Cotswold properties cost 2.2 times the price as homes in Plymouth (£221,000 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 March

Annual growth to March

Highest and lowest annual growth in the South West