House prices crashed by 8% in Gwynedd in May.

The large drop contributes to the longer-term trend, which has seen Gwynedd property prices suffer a 2.8% annual decline.

The average Gwynedd house price in May was £189,472. Land Registry figures show an 8% decrease on April. Across Wales, where prices increased 2.5 per cent, Gwynedd was lower than the 1.2 per cent rise for the UK as a whole.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in Gwynedd fell by £5,600 – putting the area 20th among Wales’ 22 local authorities with price data for annual growth.

The highest annual growth was in Blaenau Gwent, where property prices increased on average by 9%, to £138,000. At the other end of the scale, properties in Merthyr Tydfil lost 14.5% of their value, giving an average price of £129,000.

First-time buyers in Gwynedd spent an average of £166,200 on their property – £4,400 less than a year ago, but £26,800 more than in May 2019.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £216,000 on average in May – 30% more than first-time buyers.

Owners of terraced houses saw the biggest fall in property prices in Gwynedd in May – they dropped 8.2% in price, to £147,900 on average. Over the last year, prices dropped by 2.2%.

Detached houses are down 7.6% monthly and 4% annually, to £274,553 on average. Semi-detached houses dropped 8% monthly; down 2% annually; £194,223 average. Flats are down 7.9% monthly; down 4.2% annually; £112,381 average

Buyers paid 12.3% less than the average price in Wales (£216,000) in May for a Gwynedd property. Across Wales, property prices are low compared to those across the UK, where the average cost is £285,000.

The most expensive properties in Wales were in Monmouthshire – £332,000 on average, and 1.8 times the price as in Gwynedd. Monmouthshire properties cost 2.6 times the price as homes in Merthyr Tydfil (£129,000 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 May

• Gwynedd: £189,472

• Wales: £216,002

• UK: £285,201

Annual change to May

• Gwynedd: -2.8%

• Wales: +2.4%

• UK: +2.2%

Highest and lowest annual growth in Wales

• Blaenau Gwent: +9%

• Merthyr Tydfil: -14.5%