House prices increased by 2.5 per cent – more than the average for Wales – in Ceredigion in June, new figures show.

The rise contributes to the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area grow by 4.2 per cent over the last year.

The average Ceredigion house price in June was £250,700, Land Registry figures show – a 2.5 per cent increase on May.

Over the month, the picture was different to that across Wales, where prices increased 0.2 per cent, and Ceredigion was above the 0.7 per cent rise for the UK as a whole.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in Ceredigion rose by £10,000 – putting the area third among Wales’s 22 local authorities with price data for annual growth.

First-time buyers in Ceredigion spent an average of £227,600 on their property – £8,800 more than a year ago, and £63,900 more than in June 2018.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £276,400 on average in June – 21.5 per cent more than first-time buyers.

Owners of flats saw the biggest rise in property prices in Ceredigion in June – they increased 3.1 per cent, to £116,012 on average. Over the last year, prices rose by 4.1 per cent.

Among other types of property: Detached, up 2.2 per cent monthly, up 4.1 per cent annually; £323,196 average; semi-detached, up 2.6 per cent monthly; up 4.4 per cent annually, £210,464 average; terraced, up 2.9 per cent monthly, up 3.7 per cent annually, £180,656 average.

The highest annual growth in the region was in Merthyr Tydfil, where property prices increased on average by 9.9 per cent, to £162,000. At the other end of the scale, properties in Pembrokeshire lost 6.1 per cent of their value, giving an average price of £227,000.

Buyers paid 17.4 per cent more than the average price in Wales (£213,000) in June for a property in Ceredigion. Across Wales, property prices are low compared to those across the UK, where the average cost is £288,000.

The most expensive properties in Wales were in Monmouthshire – £357,000 on average, and 1.4 times the price as in Ceredigion. Monmouthshire properties cost 2.9 times the price as homes in Blaenau Gwent (£125,000 average), at the other end of the scale.

The highest property prices across the UK were in Kensington and Chelsea, with an average price of £1.3 million.