House prices dropped more than average for the south west in Cornwall in October, new figures show.

But the drop does not reverse the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area achieve 1.3 per cent annual growth .

The average Cornwall house price in October was £235,648, Land Registry figures show – a 1.4 per cent decrease on September.

Over the month, the picture was worse than that across the South West, where prices decreased 0.8 per cent , and Cornwall underperformed compared to the 0.7 per cent drop for the UK as a whole.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in Cornwall rose by £3,100 – putting the area 13th among the South West’s 36 local authorities for annual growth.

The best annual growth in the region was in North Devon, where properties increased on average by 5.8 per cent, to £256,000. At the other end of the scale, properties in Cheltenham dropped 6.5 per cent in value, giving an average price of £264,000.

Winners and losers

Owners of flats fared worst in Cornwall in October – they dropped 2.5 per cent in price, to £137,502 on average . Over the last year, prices dropped by 1.4 per cent.

Among other types of property:

Detached: down 1.1 per cent monthly; up 1.8 per cent annually; £342,494 average

Semi-detached: down 1.1 per cent monthly; up 1.8 per cent annually; £227,118 average

Terraced: down 1.6 per cent monthly; up 1.4 per cent annually; £187,139 average

First steps on the property ladder

First-time buyers in Cornwall spent an average of £193,700 on their property – £1,700 more than a year ago, and £25,700 more than in October 2014.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £265,200 on average in October – 36.9 per cent more than first-time buyers.

How do property prices in Cornwall compare?

Buyers paid 8.8 per cent less than the average price in the South West (£258,000) in October for a property in Cornwall. Across the south west, property prices are roughly the same as those across the UK, where the average cost £233,000.

The most expensive properties in the south west were in the Cotswolds – £389,000 on average, and 1.6 times as much as in Cornwall. The Cotswolds properties cost 2.2 times as much as homes in Plymouth (£176,000 average), at the other end of the scale.

The highest property prices across the UK were in Kensington and Chelsea, where the average October sale price of £1.2 million could buy 14 properties in Burnley (average £87,000).

Factfile

Average property price in October

Cornwall: £235,648

The south west: £258,372

UK: £232,944

Annual growth to October

Cornwall: +1.3 per cent

The south west: +0.6 per cent

UK: +0.7 per cent

Best and worst annual growth in the south west

North Devon: +5.8 per cent

Cheltenham: -6.5 per cent