House prices increased more than average for the South West in Cornwall in August, new figures show.

The boost contributes to the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area achieve 3.8 per cent annual growth .

The average Cornwall house price in August was £238,379, Land Registry figures show – a 1.3 per cent increase on July.

Over the month, the picture was better than that across the South West, where prices increased 0.7 per cent, and Cornwall outperformed the 0.8 per cent rise for the UK as a whole.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in Cornwall rose by £8,600 – putting the area eighth among the South West’s 36 local authorities for annual growth.

The best annual growth in the region was in the Cotswolds, where properties increased on average by 15.5 per cent, to £431,000. At the other end of the scale, properties in East Dorset dropped 4.3 per cent in value, giving an average price of £344,000.

Winners and losers

Owners of detached houses saw the biggest improvement in property prices in Cornwall in August – they increased 1.8 per cent, to £346,297 on average. Over the last year, prices rose by 4.3 per cent.

Among other types of property:

Semi-detached: up 1.1 per cent monthly; up four per cent annually; £228,937 average

Terraced: up 1.1 per cent monthly; up 3.7 per cent annually; £189,200 average

Flats: up 0.6 per cent monthly; up 1.7 per cent annually; £140,449 average

First steps on the property ladder

First-time buyers in Cornwall spent an average of £ 196,000 on their property – £6,400 more than a year ago, and £32,000 more than in August 2014.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £ 268,200 on average in August – 36.8 per cent more than first-time buyers.

How do property prices in Cornwall compare?

Buyers paid 8.6 per cent less than the average price in the South West (£261,000) in August for a property in Cornwall. Across the South West, property prices are roughly the same as those across the UK, where the average cost £235,000.

The most expensive properties in the South West were in the Cotswolds – £431,000 on average, and 1.8 times as much as in Cornwall. The Cotswolds properties cost 2.4 times as much as homes in Plymouth (£177,000 average), at the other end of the scale.

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

Factfile

Average property price in August

Cornwall: £238,379

The South West: £260,901

UK: £234,853

Annual growth to August

Cornwall: +3.8 per cent

The South West: +0.9 per cent

UK: +1.3 per cent

Best and worst annual growth in the South West

The Cotswolds: +15.5 per cent

East Dorset: -4.3 per cent