House prices increased by 2.1% – more than the average for Wales – in Carmarthenshire in December, new figures show.

But the rise does not reverse the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area suffer a 4.2% annual decline.

The average Carmarthenshire house price in December was £203,726, Land Registry figures show – a 2.1% increase on November.

Over the month, the picture was different to that across Wales, where prices increased 0.9%, and Carmarthenshire was above the 0.1% rise for the UK as a whole.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in Carmarthenshire fell by £8,900 – putting the area 16th among Wales’s 22 local authorities with price data for annual growth.

The highest annual growth in the region was in the Vale of Glamorgan, where property prices increased on average by 4.7%, to £323,000. At the other end of the scale, properties in Ceredigion lost 11.4% of their value, giving an average price of £233,000.

First steps on the property ladder

First-time buyers in Carmarthenshire spent an average of £179,600 on their property – £7,700 less than a year ago, but £50,500 more than in December 2018.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £228,600 on average in December – 27.3% more than first-time buyers.

Property types

Owners of semi-detached houses saw the biggest rise in property prices in Carmarthenshire in December – they increased 2.5%, to £180,981 on average. Over the last year, prices dropped by 3.4%.

Among other types of property:

How do property prices in Carmarthenshire compare?

Buyers paid 4.7% less than the average price in Wales (£214,000) in December for a property in Carmarthenshire. Across Wales, property prices are low compared to those across the UK, where the average cost is £285,000.

The most expensive properties in Wales were in Monmouthshire – £348,000 on average, and 1.7 times the price as in Carmarthenshire. Monmouthshire properties cost 2.7 times the price as homes in Blaenau Gwent (£131,000 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 December

Annual change to December

Highest and lowest annual growth in Wales