House prices in Swindon rose by more than the average for England in 2017, continuing six straight years of increasing property values.

The average sale price in the town in December 2017 was £217,531 – 7.4 per cent higher than at the end of 2016, representing an average increased home value of £15,053.

And since the end of 2012, house prices have risen by over £70,000 in the town, a 47 per cent increase. Properties across the country saw an average 37 per cent increase.

Estate agents put the increased prices down to a shortage of available property, and Swindon’s growing popularity as a London commuter destination.

Chris Taylor, senior valuation manager at Castles Estate Agents, said: “The prices have grown across Swindon in the last year, simply because of supply and demand: there hasn’t been enough on the market.

“We’re still very much in a period where there is not enough to go around for everybody. There’s been a lot more buyers than there have properties, so prices have continued to grow.

“I think it’s just because a lot of people want to move to Swindon for the commuter belt.

“We’re only two hours by car to the centre of London, and only an hour-and-a-half by train. Also, the anticipation of the new electric railway running from Swindon to Paddington has increased interest in property here.

“Places like Reading and Bristol have become so extortionate in price that people have been forced to come to Swindon, which has pushed the price up again.”

The trend in Swindon reflects that in other locations nearby. In Wiltshire, sale prices rose by 8.0 per cent in 2017, and the south west region saw a 7.5 per cent increase. In nearby Oxfordshire however, prices increased by just 1.8 per cent, significantly below the English average of 5.0 per cent.

Sales in Swindon declined over 2017, with data from the first 10 months of the year showing a 15 per cent decrease over the same period in 2016.