House prices dropped by 0.8% – more than the average for the South West – in Somerset in June, new figures show.

The drop contributes to the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area suffer a 0.1% annual decline.

The average Somerset house price in June was £296,250, Land Registry figures show – a 0.8% decrease on May.

Over the month, the picture was similar to that across the South West, where prices decreased 0.5%, and Somerset was lower than the 0.7% rise for the UK as a whole.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in Somerset fell by £310 – putting the area 21st among the South West’s 26 local authorities with price data for annual growth.

The highest annual growth in the region was in Tewkesbury, where property prices increased on average by 9.3%, to £369,000. At the other end of the scale, properties in Cotswold lost 2% of their value, giving an average price of £467,000.

First steps on the property ladder

First-time buyers in Somerset spent an average of £238,440 on their property – £710 less than a year ago, but £51,160 more than in June 2018.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £332,610 on average in June – 39.5% more than first-time buyers.

Property types

Owners of detached houses saw the biggest fall in property prices in Somerset in June – they dropped 1.2% in price, to £465,072 on average. But over the last year, prices rose by 0.3%.

Among other types of property:

How do property prices in Somerset compare?

Buyers paid 7.8% less than the average price in the South West (£321,000) in June for a property in Somerset. Across the South West, property prices are higher than those across the UK, where the average cost is £288,000.

The most expensive properties in the South West were in Cotswold – £467,000 on average, and 1.6 times the price as in Somerset. Cotswold properties cost 2.1 times the price as homes in Plymouth (£219,000 average), at the other end of the scale.

The highest property prices across the UK were in Kensington and Chelsea, with an average price of £1.3 million.

Factfile

Average property price in June

Annual change to June

Highest and lowest annual growth in the South West