HOUSE prices dropped slightly in Wyre Forest in June, the latest figures show.

But the drop does not reverse the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area grow by 0.3% over the last year.

The average Wyre Forest house price in June was £241,174, Land Registry figures show – a 1% decrease on May.

Over the month, the picture was different to that across West Midlands, where prices increased 0.7%, and Wyre Forest was lower than the 0.5% rise for the UK as a whole.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in Wyre Forest rose by £720 – putting the area 23rd among West Midlands’s 30 local authorities with price data for annual growth.

The highest annual growth in the region was in Stratford-on-Avon, where property prices increased on average by 11.1%, to £394,000. At the other end of the scale, properties in Walsall lost 1.8% of their value, giving an average price of £208,000.

First steps on the property ladder

First-time buyers in Wyre Forest spent an average of £204,640 on their property – £910 more than a year ago, and £40,560 more than in June 2019.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £272,210 on average in June – 33% more than first-time buyers.

Property types

Owners of flats saw the biggest fall in property prices in Wyre Forest in June – they dropped 1.2% in price, to £124,928 on average. Over the last year, prices dropped by 2.4%.

Among other types of property:

Detached: down 1.1% monthly; down 0.4% annually; £373,560 average

Semi-detached: down 1% monthly; up 1.5% annually; £235,876 average

Terraced: down 0.7% monthly; up 0.7% annually; £188,937 average

How do property prices in Wyre Forest compare?

Buyers paid 4.8% less than the average price in West Midlands (£253,000) in June for a property in Wyre Forest. Across West Midlands, property prices are lower than those across the UK, where the average cost is £288,000.

The most expensive properties in West Midlands were in Stratford-on-Avon – £394,000 on average, and 1.6 times the price as in Wyre Forest. Stratford-on-Avon properties cost 2.8 times the price as homes in Stoke (£140,000 average), at the other end of the scale.

The highest property prices across the UK were in (insert LA with highest house price).

Factfile

Average property price in June

Wyre Forest: £241,174

West Midlands: £253,245

UK: £287,924

Annual growth to June

Wyre Forest: +0.3%

West Midlands: +3.1%

UK: +2.7%

Highest and lowest annual growth in West Midlands

Stratford-on-Avon: +11.1%

Walsall: -1.8%