House prices dropped by 1.3% – more than the average for Wales – in Monmouthshire in January, new figures show.

The drop contributes to the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area suffer a 1.9% annual decline.

The average Monmouthshire house price in January was £331,773, Land Registry figures show – a 1.3% decrease on December.

Over the month, the picture was different to that across Wales, where prices decreased 0.1%, and Monmouthshire was lower than the 0.5% rise for the UK as a whole.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in Monmouthshire fell by £6,500 – putting the area 13th 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 4.8%, to £264,000. At the other end of the scale, properties in Newport lost 6.7% of their value, giving an average price of £222,000.

First steps on the property ladder

First-time buyers in Monmouthshire spent an average of £258,000 on their property – £4,400 less than a year ago, but £47,100 more than in January 2019.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £384,800 on average in January – 49.1% more than first-time buyers.

Property types

Owners of flats saw the biggest fall in property prices in Monmouthshire in January – they dropped 1.6% in price, to £161,156 on average. Over the last year, prices dropped by 3.8%.

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 January. The average price paid would buy 2.4 homes in Blaenau Gwent (£136,000), at the other end of the scale.

The highest property prices across the UK were in Kensington and Chelsea, at £1.4 million.

Across Wales, property prices are low compared to those across the UK, where the average cost is £282,000.

Factfile

Average property price in January

Annual change to January

Highest and lowest annual growth in Wales