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

The boost contributes to the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area achieve 4.3% annual growth .

The average Denbighshire house price in October was £158,745, Land Registry figures show – a 1.2% increase on September.

Over the month, the picture was better than that across Wales, where prices increased 0.7% , and Denbighshire outperformed the 0.7% drop for the UK as a whole.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in Denbighshire rose by £6,500 – putting the area ninth 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 11.8%, to £117,000. At the other end of the scale, properties in Blaenau Gwent dropped 3.2% in value, giving an average price of £89,000.

Winners and Losers

Owners of semi-detached houses saw the biggest improvement in property prices in Denbighshire in October – they increased 1.5%, to £142,366 on average. Over the last year, prices rose by 4.7%.

Among other types of property:

Detached: up 1.3% monthly; up 4.3% annually; £200,020 average

Terraced: up 0.9% monthly; up 4.4% annually; £112,734 average

Flats: down 0.2% monthly; up 1.6% annually; £82,756 average

First steps on the property ladder

First-time buyers in Denbighshire spent an average of £ 141,400 on their property – £5,500 more than a year ago, and £21,200 more than in October 2014.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £ 175,400 on average in October – 24.0% more than first-time buyers.

How do property prices in Denbighshire compare?

Buyers paid 4.5% less than the average price in Wales (£166,000) in October 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 – £277,000 on average, and 1.7 times as much as in Denbighshire. Monmouthshire properties cost 3.1 times as much as homes in Blaenau Gwent (£89,000 average), at the other end of the scale.

The highest property prices across the UK were in Kensington and Chelsea, where the average October sale price of £1.2 million could buy 14 properties in Burnley (average £87,000).

Average property price in October

Denbighshire: £158,745

Wales: £166,245

UK: £232,944

Annual growth to October

Denbighshire: +4.3%

Wales: +3.3%

UK: +0.7%

Best and worst annual growth in Wales

Merthyr Tydfil: +11.8%

Blaenau Gwent: -3.2%