House prices increased by 1.1% in Ceredigion in April, new figures show.

The rise contributes to the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area grow by 23% over the last year – the highest in Wales.

An imbalance between supply and demand for properties has remained the primary reason behind climbing house prices across the UK throughout the pandemic.

The need for larger deposits and constraints on accessing mortgages have pushed homeownership further out of reach for many first-time buyers – despite Government figures showing 50% of renters would be able to afford the monthly payments.

In a recent major speech in Blackpool, Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced a “comprehensive review” of the mortgage market would take place in a bid to help more people onto the property ladder.

The average Ceredigion house price in April was £259,724, Land Registry figures show – a 1.1% increase on March.

Over the month, the picture was different to that across Wales, where prices increased 2.2%.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in Ceredigion rose by £49,000 – putting the area top among Wales’s 22 local authorities with price data for annual growth.

At the other end of the scale, properties in Denbighshire gained just 9.2% in value, giving an average price of £195,000.

First-time buyers in Ceredigion spent an average of £235,000 on their property – £43,000 more than a year ago, and £77,000 more than in April 2017.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £287,000 on average in April – 21.7% more than first-time buyers.

Owners of terraced houses saw the biggest rise in property prices in Ceredigion in April – they increased 1.2%, to £186,190 on average. Over the last year, prices rose by 21.1%.

Among other types of property:

Buyers paid 22.5% more than the average price in Wales (£212,000) in April for a property in Ceredigion. Across Wales, property prices are high compared to those across the UK, where the average cost £281,000.

The most expensive properties in Wales were in Monmouthshire – £346,000 on average, and 1.3 times as much as more than in Ceredigion. Monmouthshire properties cost 2.6 times as much as homes in Blaenau Gwent (£132,000 average), at the other end of the scale.

The highest property prices across the UK were in Kensington and Chelsea.

Average property price in April

Annual growth to April

Highest and lowest annual growth in Wales