House prices dropped by 2.8% in Monmouthshire in August, new figures show.

But the drop does not reverse the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area grow by 5.7% over the last year.

The average Monmouthshire house price in August was £354,170. Land Registry figures show a 2.8% decrease on July.

Over the month, the picture was different to that across Wales, where prices increased 2.6%, and Monmouthshire was lower than the 1.5% rise for the UK as a whole.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in Monmouthshire rose by £19,000 – putting the area third among Wales’s 22 local authorities with price data for annual growth.

The highest annual growth in the region was in Blaenau Gwent, where property prices increased on average by 7.4%, to £135,000. At the other end of the scale, properties in Gwynedd lost 3.4% of their value, giving an average price of £201,000.

First steps on the property ladder

First-time buyers in Monmouthshire spent an average of £276,000 on their property – £17,000 more than a year ago, and £64,000 more than in August 2019.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £410,000 on average in August – 48.3% more than first-time buyers.

Property types

Owners of detached houses saw the biggest fall in property prices in Monmouthshire in August – they dropped 3.2% in price, to £504,001 on average. But over the last year, prices rose by 5.1%.

Among other types of property:

How do property prices in Monmouthshire compare?

Buyers paid more for properties in Monmouthshire than anywhere else in Wales in August. The average price paid would buy 2.6 homes in Blaenau Gwent (£135,000), at the other end of the scale.

The highest property prices across the UK were in Kensington and Chelsea.

Across Wales, property prices are low compared to those across the UK, where the average cost is £293,000.

Factfile

Average property price in August

Annual growth to August

Highest and lowest annual growth in Wales