House prices dropped by 3.8% – more than the average for the South West – in West Devon in May, new figures show.

But the drop does not reverse the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area grow by 7.5% over the last year – the highest in the South West.

The average West Devon house price in May was £318,416, Land Registry figures show – a 3.8% decrease on April.

Over the month, the picture was different to that across the South West, where prices decreased 0.2%, and West Devon was lower than the UK as a whole, where prices did not change.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in West Devon rose by £22,000 – putting the area top among the South West’s 26 local authorities with price data for annual growth.

At the other end of the scale, properties in Teignbridge gained 0.3% in value, giving an average price of £310,000.

First steps on the property ladder

First-time buyers in West Devon spent an average of £240,000 on their property – £17,000 more than a year ago, and £57,000 more than in May 2018.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £360,000 on average in May – 50.2% more than first-time buyers.

Property types

Owners of detached houses saw the biggest fall in property prices in West Devon in May – they dropped 4.1% in price, to £460,676 on average. But over the last year, prices rose by 7.9%.

Among other types of property:

How do property prices in West Devon compare?

Buyers paid 1.7% less than the average price in the South West (£324,000) in May for a property in West Devon. Across the South West, property prices are higher than those across the UK, where the average cost is £286,000.

The most expensive properties in the South West were in Cotswold – £489,000 on average, and 1.5 times the price as in West Devon. 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 May

Annual growth to May

Highest and lowest annual growth in the South West