House prices dropped by 1.3% – more than the average for the South West – in West Devon 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 11.1% over the last year.

The average West Devon house price in March was £331,104, Land Registry figures show – a 1.3% decrease on February.

Over the month, the picture was different to that across the South West, where prices decreased 0.6%, and West Devon was lower than the 1.2% drop for the UK as a whole.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in West Devon rose by £33,000 – putting the area second among the South West’s 26 local authorities with price data for annual growth.

The highest annual growth in the region was in Swindon, where property prices increased on average by 12.2%, to £279,000. At the other end of the scale, properties in Bath and North East Somerset gained 1.1% in value, giving an average price of £421,000.

First steps on the property ladder

First-time buyers in West Devon spent an average of £249,000 on their property – £25,000 more than a year ago, and £62,000 more than in March 2018.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £375,000 on average in March – 50.6% more than first-time buyers.

Property types

Owners of terraced houses saw the biggest fall in property prices West Devon in March – they dropped 1.9% in price, to £245,675 on average. But over the last year, prices rose by 10.5%.

Among other types of property:

How do property prices in West Devon compare?

Buyers paid 1.6% more than the average price in the South West (£326,000) in March for a property in West Devon. Across the South West, property prices are roughly the same as those across the UK, where the average cost £285,000.

The most expensive properties in the South West were in Cotswold – £511,000 on average, and 1.5 times as much as more than in West Devon. Cotswold properties cost 2.4 times as much as homes in Plymouth (£217,000 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