House prices increased in Ceredigion, Powys and Gwynedd in April, new Land Registry figures show.

There was a 1.2 per cent rise in Ceredigion, but the increase does not reverse the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area suffer a 2.5 per cent annual decline.

In Powys, the latest 1.5 per cent increase contributes to the longer-term trend which has seen prices grow by 5.6 per cent over the past 12 months.

And in Gwynedd, the 0.5 per cent rise in April will have little effect on the long-term decline which has seen a 2.7 per cent drop in prices over the last year.

The average Ceredigion house price in April was £243,627, a 1.2 per cent increase on March; a £248,696 average in Powys means a 1.5 per cent increase; and Gwynedd's £200,961 average price is a 0.5 per cent rise from the previous month.

Over the month, the picture in our three counties was different to that across Wales, where prices decreased 1.3 per cent, and Ceredigion and Powys were above the 0.5 per cent rise for the UK as a whole.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in Ceredigion fell by £6,300; in Powys, the average has risen by £13,000; and in Gwynedd, the average sale price decreased by £5,600.

These prices put Ceredigion and Gwynedd at 20th and 21st among Wales’s 22 local authorities with price data for annual growth. Powys' increase puts it at 10th place.

The highest annual growth in Wales was in Merthyr Tydfil, where property prices increased on average by 11.6 per cent, to £162,000. At the other end of the scale, properties in Anglesey lost 3.1 per cent of their value, giving an average price of £225,000.