House prices dropped by 1.2% in West Devon in April, new figures show.

But the drop does not reverse the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area grow by 5.2% over the last year – the highest in the South West.

The average West Devon house price in April was £320,051. Land Registry figures show a 1.2% decrease on March.

Over the month, the picture was different to that across the South West, where prices increased 1.1%, and West Devon was lower than the 0.3% rise for the UK as a whole.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in West Devon rose by £16,000 – putting the area top among the South West’s 26 local authorities with price data for annual growth.

At the other end of the scale, properties in Torbay lost 7.1% of their value, giving an average price of £238,000.

First steps on the property ladder

First-time buyers in West Devon spent an average of £243,000 on their property – £14,000 more than a year ago, and £46,000 more than in April 2019.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £359,000 on average in April – 48% more than first-time buyers.

Property types

Owners of detached houses saw the biggest fall in property prices in West Devon in April – they dropped 1.6% in price, to £453,812 on average. But over the last year, prices rose by 4.3%.

Among other types of property:

Semi-detached:
Terraced:
Flats:

How do property prices in West Devon compare?

Buyers paid 0.7% more than the average price in the South West (£318,000) in April for a property in West Devon. Across the South West, property prices are higher than those across the UK, where the average cost is £281,000.

The most expensive properties in the South West were in Cotswold – £477,000 on average, and 1.5 times the price as in West Devon. Cotswold properties cost 2.1 times the price as homes in Plymouth (£226,000 average), at the other end of the scale.

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

Factfile

Average property price in April

  • West Devon: £320,051
  • The South West: £317,911
  • UK: £281,373

Annual growth to April

  • West Devon: +5.2%
  • The South West: +1.8%
  • UK: +1.1%

Highest and lowest annual growth in the South West

  • West Devon: +5.2%
  • Torbay: -7.1%