House prices dropped by 2% in Monmouthshire in June, new figures show.

But the drop does not reverse the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area grow by 12.9% over the last year.

The average Monmouthshire house price in June was £341,356, Land Registry figures show – a 2% decrease on May.

Over the month, the picture was different to that across Wales, where prices increased 0.6%, and Monmouthshire was lower than the 1% rise for the UK as a whole.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in Monmouthshire rose by £39,000 – putting the area 12th among Wales’s 22 local authorities with price data for annual growth.

The highest annual growth in the region was in Ceredigion, where property prices increased on average by 19.5%, to £257,000. At the other end of the scale, properties in Bridgend gained 7.9% in value, giving an average price of £199,000.

An imbalance between supply and demand for properties has remained the primary reason behind climbing house prices across the UK throughout the pandemic.

But activity is starting to slow, with soaring inflation putting household budgets under pressure.

First steps on the property ladder

First-time buyers in Monmouthshire spent an average of £264,000 on their property – £30,000 more than a year ago, and £82,000 more than in June 2017.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £397,000 on average in June – 50.3% more than first-time buyers.

Property types

Owners of detached houses saw the biggest fall in property prices Monmouthshire in June – they dropped 2.4% in price, to £494,151 on average. But over the last year, prices rose by 13.5%.

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 June. The average price paid would buy 2.6 homes in Blaenau Gwent (£130,000), at the other end of the scale.

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

Across Wales, property prices are higher than those across the UK, where the average cost £286,000.

Factfile

Average property price in June

Annual growth to June

Highest and lowest annual growth in Wales