House prices increased by 4.2% – more than the average for the South West – in South Hams in August, new figures show.

The rise contributes to the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area grow by 4.6% over the last year – the highest in the South West.

The average South Hams house price in August was £442,985, Land Registry figures show – a 4.2% increase on July.

Over the month, the picture was different to that across the South West, where prices increased 1.2%, and South Hams was above the 0.3% rise for the UK as a whole.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in South Hams rose by £19,000 – putting the area top among the South West’s 26 local authorities with price data for annual growth.

At the other end of the scale, properties in West Devon lost 4% of their value, giving an average price of £313,000.

First steps on the property ladder

First-time buyers in South Hams spent an average of £351,000 on their property – £15,000 more than a year ago, and £112,000 more than in August 2018.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £496,000 on average in August – 41.2% more than first-time buyers.

Property types

Owners of semi-detached houses saw the biggest rise in property prices in South Hams in August – they increased 4.6%, to £433,758 on average. Over the last year, prices rose by 5.5%.

Among other types of property:

How do property prices in South Hams compare?

Buyers paid 34.9% more than the average price in the South West (£328,000) in August for a property in South Hams. Across the South West, property prices are higher than those across the UK, where the average cost is £291,000.

The most expensive properties in the South West were in Cotswold – £492,000 on average, and 1.1 times the price as in South Hams. Cotswold properties cost 2.2 times the price as homes in Plymouth (£222,000 average), at the other end of the scale.

The highest property prices across the UK were in Kensington and Chelsea (£1.4 million).

Factfile

Average property price in August

Annual change to August

Highest and lowest annual growth in the South West