House prices increased by 1.5% in North Somerset in December, new figures show.

The rise contributes to the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area grow by 0.6% over the last year.

The average North Somerset house price in December was £342,082, Land Registry figures show – a 1.5% increase on November.

Over the month, the picture was different to that across the South West, where prices decreased 0.5%, and North Somerset was above the 0.1% rise for the UK as a whole.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in North Somerset rose by £2,000 – putting the area fourth among the South West’s 26 local authorities with price data for annual growth.

The highest annual growth in the region was in South Hams, where property prices increased on average by 5.6%, to £449,000. At the other end of the scale, properties in Torridge lost 8.9% of their value, giving an average price of £303,000.

First steps on the property ladder

First-time buyers in North Somerset spent an average of £276,765 on their property – £69 less than a year ago, but £56,909.0121 more than in December 2018.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £389,654 on average in December – 40.8% more than first-time buyers.

Property types

Owners of semi-detached houses saw the biggest rise in property prices in North Somerset in December – they increased 1.7%, to £362,015 on average. Over the last year, prices rose by 1.4%.

Among other types of property:

How do property prices in North Somerset compare?

Buyers paid 7.2% more than the average price in the South West (£319,000) in December for a property in North Somerset. Across the South West, property prices are higher than those across the UK, where the average cost is £285,000.

The most expensive properties in the South West were in Cotswold – £486,000 on average, and 1.4 times the price as in North Somerset. Cotswold properties cost 2.2 times the price as homes in Plymouth (£218,000 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 December

Annual change to December

Highest and lowest annual growth in the South West