HOUSE prices dropped by 3.3 per cent in Monmouthshire in April, new figures show.

But the drop does not reverse the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area achieve 5.1 per cent annual growth.

The average Monmouthshire house price in April was £293,574, Land Registry figures show – a 3.3 per cent decrease on March.

Over the month, the picture was worse than that across Wales, where prices increased 0.6 per cent, and Monmouthshire underperformed compared to the 1.9 per cent drop for the UK as a whole.

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Over the last year, the average sale price of property in Monmouthshire rose by £14,000 – putting the area 20th among Wales’s 22 local authorities for annual growth.

The best annual growth in the region was in Ceredigion, where property prices increased on average by 26.7 per cent per cent, to £237,000. At the other end of the scale, properties in Merthyr Tydfil gained 2.9 per cent in value, giving an average price of £112,000.

Winners and Losers

Owners of flats fared worst in Monmouthshire in April – they dropped 3.8 per cent in price, to £147,945 on average. But over the last year, prices rose by 2.8 per cent.

Among other types of property:

Detached: down 3.3 per cent monthly; up 5.3 per cent annually; £422,068 average

Semi-detached: down 3.2 per cent monthly; up 5 per cent annually; £244,003 average

Terraced: down 3.3 per cent monthly; up 5.3 per cent annually; £199,745 average

First steps on the property ladder

First-time buyers in Monmouthshire spent an average of £228,000 on their property – £11,000 more than a year ago, and £59,000 more than in April 2016.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £341,000 on average in April – 49.7 per cent more than first-time buyers.

How do property prices in Monmouthshire compare?

Buyers paid more for properties in Monmouthshire than anywhere else in Wales in April. The average price paid would buy 2.7 homes in Blaenau Gwent (£109,000), at the other end of the scale.

The highest property prices across the UK were in Kensington and Chelsea, where the average April sale price of £1.1 million could buy 11 properties in East Ayrshire (average £105,000).

Across Wales, property prices are higher than those across the UK, where the average cost £251,000.