House prices increased by 1.4% in Cornwall in January, new figures show.
The boost contributes to the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area achieve 13% annual growth the highest in the South West.
The average Cornwall house price in January was £265,775, Land Registry figures show a 1.4% increase on December.
Over the month, the picture was better than that across the South West, where prices decreased 1.8%, and Cornwall outperformed the 0.5% drop for the UK as a whole.
Over the last year, the average sale price of property in Cornwall rose by £31,000 putting the area top among the South Wests 32 local authorities for annual growth.
At the other end of the scale, properties in West Devon gained 1.4% in value, giving an average price of £266,000.
Winners and Losers
Owners of semi-detached houses saw the biggest improvement in property prices in Cornwall in January they increased 1.9%, to £256,647 on average. Over the last year, prices rose by 13.3%.
Among other types of property:
Detached: up 1.4% monthly; up 14.2% annually; £389,039 average
Terraced: up 1.4% monthly; up 13.4% annually; £211,719 average
Flats: up 0.2% monthly; up 8.1% annually; £150,177 average
First steps on the property ladder
First-time buyers in Cornwall spent an average of £218,000 on their property £24,000 more than a year ago, and £44,000 more than in December 2015.
By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £300,000 on average in January 37.8% more than first-time buyers.
How do property prices in Cornwall compare?
Buyers paid 3.2% less than the average price in the South West (£275,000) in January for a property in Cornwall. Across the South West, property prices are higher than those across the UK, where the average cost £249,000.
The most expensive properties in the South West were in the Cotswolds £415,000 on average, and 1.6 times as much as in Cornwall. The Cotswolds properties cost 2.1 times as much as homes in Plymouth (£194,000 average), at the other end of the scale.
The highest property prices across the UK were in Kensington and Chelsea, where the average January sale price of £1.3 million could buy 14 properties in Blaenau Gwent (average £93,000).
Factfile
Average property price in January
Cornwall: £265,775
The South West: £274,648
UK: £249,309
Annual growth to January
Cornwall: +13%
The South West: +6.7%
UK: +7.5%
Best and worst annual growth in the South West
Cornwall: +13.0%
West Devon: +1.4%