House prices increased more than average for Wales in Denbighshire in July, new figures show.

The boost contributes to the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area achieve 2.3% annual growth .

The average Denbighshire house price in July was £155,706, Land Registry figures show – a 1.8% increase on June.

Over the month, the picture was better than that across Wales, where prices increased 1% , and Denbighshire outperformed the 0.5% rise for the UK as a whole.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in Denbighshire rose by £3,600 – putting the area 19th among Wales’s 22 local authorities for annual growth.

The best annual growth in the region was in Merthyr Tydfil, where properties increased on average by 12.8%, to £115,000. At the other end of the scale, properties in Cardiff gained 1.3% in value, giving an average price of £209,000.

Winners and Losers

Owners of flats saw the biggest improvement in property prices in Denbighshire in July – they increased 2.3%, to £82,742 on average. Over the last year, prices rose by 1.4%.

Among other types of property:

Detached: up 1.7% monthly; up 2.2% annually; £195,849 average

Semi-detached: up 1.8% monthly; up 2.6% annually; £139,550 average

Terraced: up 2.1% monthly; up 2.4% annually; £110,667 average

First steps on the property ladder

First-time buyers in Denbighshire spent an average of £ 139,000 on their property – £3,100 more than a year ago, and £22,100 more than in Jul-14.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £ 171,700 on average in July – 23.6% more than first-time buyers.

How do property prices in Denbighshire compare?

Buyers paid 5.8% less than the average price in Wales (£165,000) in July for a property in Denbighshire. Across Wales, property prices are low compared to those across the UK, where the average cost £233,000.

The most expensive properties in Wales were in Monmouthshire – £281,000 on average, and 1.8 times as much as in Denbighshire. Monmouthshire properties cost three times as much as homes in Blaenau Gwent (£95,000 average), at the other end of the scale.

The highest property prices across the UK were in Kensington and Chelsea, where the average July sale price of £1.3 million could buy 15 properties in Burnley (average £84,000).