House prices increased slightly, by 0.6 per cent, in Ceredigion in November, new figures show.

The rise contributes to the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area grow by 2.2 per cent over the last year – the highest in Wales.

The average Ceredigion house price in November was £264,207, Land Registry figures show – a 0.6 per cent increase on October.

Over the month, the picture was different to that across Wales, where prices decreased 0.3 per cent, and Ceredigion was above the 0.8 per cent drop for the UK as a whole.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in Ceredigion rose by £5,600 – putting the area top among Wales’s 22 local authorities with price data for annual growth.

At the other end of the scale, properties in Merthyr Tydfil lost 12.1 per cent of their value, giving an average price of £135,000.

First-time buyers in Ceredigion spent an average of £240,000 on their property – £5,200 more than a year ago, and £71,600 more than in November 2018.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £291,200 on average in November – 21.3 per cent more than first-time buyers.

Owners of flats saw the biggest rise in property prices in Ceredigion in November – they increased 1.1 per cent, to £119,619 on average. Over the last year, prices rose by 1.5 per cent.

Among other types of property:

Buyers paid 24.1 per cent more than the average price in Wales (£213,000) in November for a property in Ceredigion. 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 – £358,000 on average, and 1.4 times the price as in Ceredigion. Monmouthshire properties cost 2.9 times the price as homes in Blaenau Gwent (£123,000 average), at the other end of the scale.

The highest property prices across the UK were in Kensington and Chelsea.