House prices remained steady in Carmarthenshire in September, new figures show.

The lack of movement maintains the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area grow by 12.5% over the last year.

The average Carmarthenshire house price in September was £207,028, Land Registry figures show – largely unchanged from August.

Over the month, the picture was different to that across Wales, where prices increased 2%.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in Carmarthenshire rose by £23,000 – putting the area 19th among Wales’s 22 local authorities with price data for annual growth.

The highest annual growth in the region was in Merthyr Tydfil, where property prices increased on average by 20.4%, to £157,000. At the other end of the scale, properties in Newport gained 10.3% in value, giving an average price of £233,000.

An imbalance between supply and demand for properties saw house prices climb across the UK throughout the pandemic.

But typical property values stalled across the UK between August and September, which caused annual growth to slow.

Andy Sommerville, director at property data provider Search Acumen said the latest data is further evidence of "a turning tide for house prices".

The figures are yet to reflect the full impact of the mini-budget, announced towards the end of September, which sparked volatitility in the mortgage market and saw interest rates on new agreements soar.

Nicky Stevenson, managing director at estate agent group Fine and Country said: “Annual house price growth slowed in September against a backdrop of rising interest rates and shrinking disposable incomes."

“All eyes will now turn to Chancellor Jeremy Hunt’s autumn statement, which is expected to include both tax rises and spending cuts," he added.

First steps on the property ladder

First-time buyers in Carmarthenshire spent an average of £183,000 on their property – £20,000 more than a year ago, and £61,000 more than in September 2017.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £232,000 on average in September – 27.2% more than first-time buyers.

Property types

Owners of flats saw the biggest fall in property prices Carmarthenshire in September – they dropped 0.9% in price, to £115,772 on average. But over the last year, prices rose by 6.7%.

Among other types of property:

How do property prices in Carmarthenshire compare?

Buyers paid 7.5% less than the average price in Wales (£224,000) in September for a property in Carmarthenshire. Across Wales, property prices are lower than those across the UK, where the average cost £295,000.

The most expensive properties in Wales were in Monmouthshire – £364,000 on average, and 1.8 times as much as more than in Carmarthenshire. Monmouthshire properties cost 2.7 times as much as homes in Blaenau Gwent (£136,000 average), at the other end of the scale.

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

Factfile

Average property price in September

Annual growth to September

Highest and lowest annual growth in Wales