House prices dropped by 1.8% in Monmouthshire 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 2.1% over the last year.

The average Monmouthshire house price in May was £332,344. Land Registry figures show a 1.8% decrease on April.

Over the month, the picture was different to that across Wales, where prices increased 2.5%, and Monmouthshire was lower than the 1.2% rise for the UK as a whole.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in Monmouthshire rose by £6,800 – putting the area 11th 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 9%, to £138,000. At the other end of the scale, properties in Merthyr Tydfil lost 14.5% of their value, giving an average price of £129,000.

First steps on the property ladder

First-time buyers in Monmouthshire spent an average of £258,000 on their property – £5,500 more than a year ago, and £49,300 more than in May 2019.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £385,900 on average in May – 49.6% more than first-time buyers.

Property types

Owners of terraced houses saw the biggest fall in property prices in Monmouthshire in May – they dropped 2.1% in price, to £226,245 on average. But over the last year, prices rose by 2.1%.

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 May. The average price paid would buy 2.6 homes in Merthyr Tydfil (£129,000), 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 £285,000.

Factfile

Average property price in May

Annual growth to May

Highest and lowest annual growth in Wales