House prices leapt by 5.2 per cent in Ceredigion in January, new figures show.

The significant rise contributes to the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area grow by 4.8 per cent over the last year – the highest in Wales.

The average Ceredigion house price in January was £263,706, Land Registry figures show – a 5.2 per cent increase on December.

Over the month, the picture was different to that across Wales, where prices decreased 0.1%, and Ceredigion was above the 0.5 per cent rise for the UK as a whole.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in Ceredigion rose by £12,000 – 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 Newport lost 6.7 per cent of their value, giving an average price of £222,000.

First-time buyers in Ceredigion spent an average of £241,000 on their property – £12,000 more than a year ago, and £71,000 more than in January 2019.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £289,000 on average in January – 20.2 per cent more than first-time buyers.

Owners of semi-detached houses saw the biggest rise in property prices in Ceredigion in January – they increased 5.4 per cent, to £222,904 on average. Over the last year, prices rose by 6.1 per cent.

Detached: up 5 per cent monthly; up 4.3 per cent annually; £336,517 average; Terraced: up 5.2 per cent monthly; up 4.5 per cent annually; £192,923 average; Flats: up 5.3 per cent monthly; up 4.9 per cent annually; £126,831 average.

Buyers paid 23.8 per cent more than the average price in Wales (£213,000) in January for a property in Ceredigion. Across Wales, property prices are low compared to those across the UK, where the average cost is £282,000.

The most expensive properties in Wales were in Monmouthshire – £332,000 on average, and 1.3 times the price as in Ceredigion. Monmouthshire properties cost 2.4 times the price as homes in Blaenau Gwent (£136,000 average), at the other end of the scale.

The highest property prices across the UK were in Kensington and Chelsea, at £1.2 million.