House prices increased in Cornwall in September, new figures show.

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

The average Cornwall house price in September was £241,154, Land Registry figures show – a 1.9 per cent increase on August.

Over the month, the picture was better than that across the south west, where prices remained static, and Cornwall outperformed the 0.2 per cent drop for the UK as a whole.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in Cornwall rose by £9,200 – putting the area sixth among the south west’s 36 local authorities for annual growth.

The best annual growth in the region was in South Hams, Devon, where properties increased on average by nine per cent, to £330,000. At the other end of the scale, properties in West Somerset dropped 4.8 per cent in value, giving an average price of £221,000.

Winners and losers

Owners of flats saw the biggest improvement in property prices in Cornwall in September – they increased 2.1 per cent, to £143,014 on average. Over the last year, prices rose by three per cent.

Among other types of property:

Detached: up 1.7 per cent monthly; up four per cent annually; £348,839 average

Semi-detached: up 1.9 per cent monthly; up 4.2 per cent annually; £231,751 average

Terraced: up two per cent monthly; up 4.1 per cent annually; £191,789 average

First steps on the property ladder

First-time buyers in Cornwall spent an average of £198,800 on their property – £7,400 more than a year ago, and £31,100 more than in September 2014.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £ 270,900 on average in September – 36.3 per cent more than first-time buyers.

How do property prices in Cornwall compare?

Buyers paid 7.3 per cent less than the average price in the south west (£260,000) in September for a property in Cornwall. Across the south west, property prices are higher than those across the UK, where the average cost £234,000.

The most expensive properties in the south west were in the Cotswolds – £384,000 on average, and 1.6 times as much as in Cornwall. The Cotswolds properties cost 2.2 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 September sale price of £1.2 million could buy 15 properties in Burnley (average £85,000).

Factfile

Average property price in September

Cornwall: £241,154

The South West: £260,158

UK: £234,370

Annual growth to September

Cornwall: +4.0%

The south west: +0.5%

UK: +1.3%

Best and worst annual growth in the south west

South Hams: +9.0%

West Somerset: -4.8%