House prices increased in Swindon in March, new figures show.

The boost contributes to the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area achieve 1.3 per cent annual growth.

The average Swindon house price in March was £218,551, Land Registry figures show – a 1.8 per cent increase on February.

Over the month, the picture was similar to that across the South West, where prices increased two per cent, and Swindon outperformed the 0.2 per cent drop for the UK as a whole.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in Swindon rose by £2,700 – putting the area 19th among the South West’s 36 local authorities for annual growth.

The best annual growth in the region was in Torbay, where properties increased on average by 12.6 per cent, to £214,000. At the other end of the scale, properties in West Devon dropped 6.8 per cent in value, giving an average price of £242,000.

Winners and Losers

Owners of detached houses saw the biggest improvement in property prices in Swindon in March – they increased 2.3 per cent, to £380,467 on average. Over the last year, prices rose by 1.6 per cent.

Among other types of property:

• Semi-detached: up 2 per cent monthly; up 2 per cent annually; £241,034 average

• Terraced: up 1.3 per cent monthly; up 1.3 per cent annually; £188,785 average

• Flats: up 1.9 per cent monthly; down 0.4 per cent annually; £139,202 average

First steps on the property ladder

First-time buyers in Swindon spent an average of £187,700 on their property – £2,000 more than a year ago, and £41,000 more than in March 2015.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £251,400 on average in March – 33.9 per cent more than first-time buyers.

How do property prices in Swindon compare?

Buyers paid 17.0 per cent less than the average price in the South West (£263,000) in March for a property in Swindon. Across the South West, property prices are lower than those across the UK, where the average cost £232,000.

The most expensive properties in the South West were in the Cotswolds – £386,000 on average, and 1.8 times as much as in Swindon. The Cotswolds properties cost 2.2 times as much as homes in Plymouth (£179,000 average), at the other end of the scale.

The highest property prices across the UK were in Kensington and Chelsea, where the average March sale price of £1.4 million could buy 16 properties in Burnley (average £86,000).

Factfile

Average property price in March

• Swindon: £218,551

• The South West: £263,360

• UK: £231,855

Annual growth to March

• Swindon: +1.3 per cent

• The South West: +4.1 per cent

• UK: +2.1 per cent

Best and worst annual growth in the South West

• Torbay: +12.6 per cent

• West Devon: -6.8 per cent