House prices increased slightly, by 0.1%, in Cornwall in October, new figures show.

But the rise does not reverse the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area suffer a 2.1% annual decline.

The average Cornwall house price in October was £316,045, Land Registry figures show – a 0.1% increase on September.

Over the month, the picture was different to that across the South West, where prices increased 0.9%, and Cornwall was above the 0.7% drop for the UK as a whole.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in Cornwall fell by £6,900 – putting the area 16th among the South West’s 26 local authorities with price data for annual growth.

The highest annual growth in the region was in South Hams, where property prices increased on average by 4.7%, to £460,000. At the other end of the scale, properties in Torbay lost 6.1% of their value, giving an average price of £251,000.

First steps on the property ladder

First-time buyers in Cornwall spent an average of £258,100 on their property – £5,900 less than a year ago, but £66,200 more than in October 2018.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £357,500 on average in October – 38.5% more than first-time buyers.

Property types

Owners of semi-detached houses saw the biggest rise in property prices in Cornwall in October – they increased 0.4%, to £310,189 on average. Over the last year, prices dropped by 1.1%.

Among other types of property:

How do property prices in Cornwall compare?

Buyers paid 4.3% less than the average price in the South West (£330,000) in October for a property in Cornwall. Across the South West, property prices are higher than those across the UK, where the average cost is £288,000.

The most expensive properties in the South West were in Cotswold – £516,000 on average, and 1.6 times the price as in Cornwall. Cotswold properties cost 2.4 times the price as homes in Plymouth (£218,000 average), at the other end of the scale.

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

Factfile

Average property price in October

Annual change to October

Highest and lowest annual growth in the South West