House prices increased slightly, by 0.3%, in Cornwall in July, new figures show.

But the rise does not reverse the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area suffer a 1.3% annual decline.

The average Cornwall house price in July was £309,384, Land Registry figures show – a 0.3% increase on June.

Over the month, the picture was similar to that across the South West, where prices decreased 0.2%, but Cornwall was lower than the 0.5% rise for the UK as a whole.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in Cornwall fell by £4,000 – putting the area 22nd among the South West’s 26 local authorities with price data for annual growth.

The highest annual growth in the region was in the Forest of Dean, where property prices increased on average by 5.9%, to £321,000. At the other end of the scale, properties in West Devon lost 3.1% of their value, giving an average price of £312,000.

First steps on the property ladder

First-time buyers in Cornwall spent an average of £252,800 on their property – £4,000 less than a year ago, but £64,300 more than in July 2018.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £349,800 on average in July – 38.4% more than first-time buyers.

Property types

Owners of terraced houses saw the biggest rise in property prices in Cornwall in July – they increased 0.4%, to £245,863 on average. Over the last year, prices dropped by 1.8%.

Among other types of property:

How do property prices in Cornwall compare?

Buyers paid 4.4% less than the average price in the South West (£324,000) in July for a property in Cornwall. Across the South West, property prices are higher than those across the UK, where the average cost is £290,000.

The most expensive properties in the South West were in Cotswold – £482,000 on average, and 1.6 times the price as in Cornwall. Cotswold properties cost 2.2 times the price as homes in Plymouth (£223,000 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 July

Annual change to July

Highest and lowest annual growth in the South West