HOUSE prices increased by 1.8% – more than the average for Wales – in Flintshire in April, new figures show.

The boost contributes to the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area achieve 13.6% annual growth.

The average Flintshire house price in April was £187,196, Land Registry figures show – a 1.8% increase on March.

Over the month, the picture was better than that across Wales, where prices increased 0.6%, and Flintshire outperformed the 1.9% drop for the UK as a whole.

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

The best annual growth in the region was in Ceredigion, where property prices increased on average by 26.7%, to £237,000. At the other end of the scale, properties in Merthyr Tydfil gained 2.9% in value, giving an average price of £112,000.

Winners and Losers

Owners of semi-detached houses saw the biggest improvement in property prices in Flintshire in April – they increased 2%, to £161,172 on average. Over the last year, prices rose by 13.4%.

Among other types of property:

Detached: up 1.7% monthly; up 14.1% annually; £262,350 average

Terraced: up 1.7% monthly; up 13.5% annually; £132,390 average

Flats: up 1.5% monthly; up 9.4% annually; £92,818 average

First steps on the property ladder

First-time buyers in Flintshire spent an average of £158,000 on their property – £19,000 more than a year ago, and £28,000 more than in April 2016.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £210,000 on average in April – 33.2% more than first-time buyers.

How do property prices in Flintshire compare?

Buyers paid 1.2% more than the average price in Wales (£185,000) in April for a property in Flintshire. Across Wales, property prices are low compared to those across the UK, where the average cost £251,000.

The most expensive properties in Wales were in Monmouthshire – £294,000 on average, and 1.6 times as much as in Flintshire. Monmouthshire properties cost 2.7 times as much as homes in Blaenau Gwent (£109,000 average), at the other end of the scale.

The highest property prices across the UK were in Kensington and Chelsea, where the average April sale price of £1.1 million could buy 11 properties in East Ayrshire (average £105,000).

Factfile

Average property price in April

Flintshire: £187,196

Wales: £185,041

UK: £250,772

Annual growth to April

Flintshire: +13.6%

Wales: +15.6%

UK: +8.9%

Best and worst annual growth in Wales

Ceredigion: +26.7%

Merthyr Tydfil: +2.9%