House prices dropped by 1.3% – more than the average for Wales – in Monmouthshire 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 5.9% over the last year.

The average Monmouthshire house price in March was £358,234, Land Registry figures show – a 1.3% decrease on February.

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

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in Monmouthshire rose by £20,000 – putting the area 10th among Wales’s 22 local authorities with price data for annual growth.

The highest annual growth in the region was in Neath Port Talbot, where property prices increased on average by 11.2%, to £167,000. At the other end of the scale, properties in Gwynedd lost 3.8% of their value, giving an average price of £198,000.

First steps on the property ladder

First-time buyers in Monmouthshire spent an average of £276,000 on their property – £15,000 more than a year ago, and £79,000 more than in March 2018.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £418,000 on average in March – 51.7% more than first-time buyers.

Property types

Owners of terraced houses saw the biggest fall in property prices Monmouthshire in March – they dropped 2% in price, to £239,161 on average. But over the last year, prices rose by 5.5%.

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 March. The average price paid would buy 2.7 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 high compared to those across the UK, where the average cost £285,000.

Factfile

Average property price in March

Annual growth to March

Highest and lowest annual growth in Wales