House prices dropped slightly, by 0.3%, in Torridge in October, new figures show.

But the drop does not reverse the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area grow by 15.4% over the last year.

The average Torridge house price in October was £325,730, Land Registry figures show – a 0.3% decrease on September.

Over the month, the picture was different to that across the South West, where prices increased 0.5%, and Torridge was lower than the 0.3% rise for the UK as a whole.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in Torridge rose by £43,000 – putting the area ninth among the South West’s 29 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 21.5%, to £453,000. At the other end of the scale, properties in Cotswold gained 11.1% in value, giving an average price of £505,000.

Average UK house prices increased by 12.6% in the year to October, accelerating from 9.9% in September.

The increase in the annual percentage change was partly caused by a sharp fall in average house prices in October 2021, following changes to stamp duty.

The average UK house price was £296,400 in October, which was £33,000 higher than a year earlier.

Tom Bill, head of UK residential research at Knight Frank, said: “Despite today’s figures, double-digit UK house price growth is now a thing of the past.

“Even as the reverberations of the mini-budget fade, a more adverse lending landscape is emerging after 13 years of ultra-low rates."

First steps on the property ladder

First-time buyers in Torridge spent an average of £260,000 on their property – £35,000 more than a year ago, and £82,000 more than in October 2017.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £362,000 on average in October – 39.1% more than first-time buyers.

Property types

Owners of flats saw the biggest fall in property prices Torridge in October – they dropped 0.7% in price, to £160,394 on average. But over the last year, prices rose by 11.1%.

Among other types of property:

How do property prices in Torridge compare?

Buyers paid 4% less than the average price in the South West (£339,000) in October for a property in Torridge. Across the South West, property prices are lower than those across the UK, where the average cost £296,000.

The most expensive properties in the South West were in Cotswold – £505,000 on average, and 1.5 times as much as more than in Torridge. Cotswold properties cost 2.2 times as much as homes in Plymouth (£230,000 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 October

Annual growth to October

Highest and lowest annual growth in the South West