HOUSE prices increased in Swindon in May, new figures show.
The boost contributes to the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area achieve 3 per cent annual growth.
The average Swindon house price in May was £221,547, Land Registry figures show – a 1.5 per cent increase on April.
Over the month, the picture was better than that across the south west, where prices decreased 0.4 per cent, and Swindon outperformed the 0.3 per cent rise for the UK as a whole.
Over the last year, the average sale price of property in Swindon rose by £6,500 – putting the area 16th among the south west’s 29 local authorities for annual growth.
The best annual growth in the region was in Stroud, where properties increased on average by 10.3%, to £300,000. At the other end of the scale, properties in West Devon dropped 5.3% in value, giving an average price of £248,000.
Winners and losers
Owners of semi-detached houses saw the biggest improvement in property prices in Swindon in May – they increased 1.8 per cent, to £244,766 on average. Over the last year, prices rose by 3.9 per cent.
Among other types of property:
Detached: up 1.7 per cent monthly; up 4.2 per cent annually; £386,624 average
Terraced: up 1.2 per cent monthly; up 2.4 per cent annually; £191,266 average
Flats: up 1.6 per cent monthly; up 1.1 per cent annually; £140,121 average
First steps on the property ladder
First-time buyers in Swindon spent an average of £190,100 on their property – £5,000 more than a year ago, and £41,800 more than in May 2015.
By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £255,100 on average in May – 34.2 per cent more than first-time buyers.
How do property prices in Swindon compare?
Buyers paid 15.1 per cent less than the average price in the South West (£261,000) in May for a property in Swindon. Across the South West, property prices are lower than those across the UK, where the average cost £236,000.
The most expensive properties in the South West were in the Cotswolds – £411,000 on average, and 1.9 times as much as in Swindon. The Cotswolds properties cost 2.3 times as much as homes in Plymouth (£175,000 average), at the other end of the scale.
The highest property prices across the UK were in Kensington and Chelsea, where the average May sale price of £1.4 million could buy 16 properties in Burnley (average £88,000).
Factfile
Average property price in May
Swindon: £221,547
The South West: £261,006
UK: £235,673
Annual growth to May
Swindon: +3.0 per cent
The South West: +3.4 per cent
UK: +2.9 per cent
Best and worst annual growth in the south west
Stroud: +10.3 per cent
West Devon: -5.3 per cent
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