HOUSE prices increased slightly, by 0.2%, in Denbighshire in July, new figures show.

The boost contributes to the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area achieve 19.4% annual growth.

The average Denbighshire house price in July was £185,632, Land Registry figures show – a 0.2% increase on June.

Over the month, the picture was better than that across Wales, where prices decreased 4%, and Denbighshire outperformed the 3.7% drop for the UK as a whole.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in Denbighshire rose by £30,000 – putting the area third among Wales’s 22 local authorities for annual growth.

The best annual growth in the region was in Conwy, where property prices increased on average by 25%, to £201,000. At the other end of the scale, properties in Ceredigion gained 6.2% in value, giving an average price of £210,000.

Winners and Losers

Owners of flats saw the biggest improvement in property prices in Denbighshire in July – they increased 0.8%, to £94,742 on average. Over the last year, prices rose by 16.2%.

Among other types of property:

Detached: remained level over the month; up 19.8% annually; £234,316 average.

Semi-detached: up 0.4% monthly; up 19.2% annually; £166,218 average.

Terraced: up 0.1% monthly; up 19.7% annually; £132,313 average

First steps on the property ladder

First-time buyers in Denbighshire spent an average of £165,000 on their property – £27,000 more than a year ago, and £36,000 more than in July 2016.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £205,000 on average in July – 24.0% more than first-time buyers.

How do property prices in Denbighshire compare?

Buyers paid 1.2% less than the average price in Wales (£188,000) in July for a property in Denbighshire. Across Wales, property prices are low compared to those across the UK, where the average cost £256,000.

The most expensive properties in Wales were in Monmouthshire – £298,000 on average, and 1.6 times as much as in Denbighshire. Monmouthshire properties cost 2.6 times as much as homes in Blaenau Gwent (£113,000 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 13 properties in Burnley (average £101,000).

Factfile

Average property price in July

Denbighshire: £185,632Wales: £187,960UK: £255,535Annual growth to July

Denbighshire: +19.4%Wales: +11.6%UK: +8%Best and worst annual growth in Wales

Conwy: +25.0%Ceredigion: +6.2%