House prices dropped slightly, by 0.6%, in Bath and North East Somerset in January, new figures show.

The drop contributes to the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area suffer a 0.7% annual decline.

The average Bath and North East Somerset house price in January was £420,545, Land Registry figures show – a 0.6% decrease on December.

Over the month, the picture was different to that across the South West, where prices increased 1.5%, and Bath and North East Somerset was lower than the 0.5% rise for the UK as a whole.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in Bath and North East Somerset fell by £3,200 – putting the area eighth among the South West’s 26 local authorities with price data for annual growth.

The highest annual growth in the region was in South Hams, where property prices increased on average by 11%, to £432,000. At the other end of the scale, properties in Torridge lost 13% of their value, giving an average price of £286,000.

First steps on the property ladder

First-time buyers in Bath and North East Somerset spent an average of £363,600 on their property – £2,700 less than a year ago, but £71,300 more than in January 2019.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £458,600 on average in January – 26.1% more than first-time buyers.

Property types

Owners of semi-detached houses saw the biggest fall in property prices in Bath and North East Somerset in January – they dropped 0.7% in price, to £438,627 on average. Over the last year, prices dropped by 1%.

Among other types of property:

How do property prices in Bath and North East Somerset compare?

Buyers paid 32.7% more than the average price in the South West (£317,000) in January for a property in Bath and North East Somerset. Across the South West, property prices are higher than those across the UK, where the average cost is £282,000.

The most expensive properties in the South West were in Cotswold – £500,000 on average, and 1.2 times the price as in Bath and North East Somerset. Cotswold properties cost 2.3 times the price as homes in Plymouth (£221,000 average), at the other end of the scale.

The highest property prices across the UK were in Kensington and Chelsea, at £1.2 million.

Factfile

Average property price in January

Annual change to January

Highest and lowest annual growth in the South West