House prices increased slightly, by 0.5%, in Cherwell in October, new figures show.

The boost contributes to the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area achieve 14.3% annual growth.

The average Cherwell house price in October was £334,503, Land Registry figures show – a 0.5% increase on September.

Over the month, the picture was better than that across the South East, where prices decreased 0.7%, and Cherwell outperformed the 1.1% drop for the UK as a whole.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in Cherwell rose by £42,000 – putting the area 18th among the South East’s 64 local authorities with price data for annual growth.

The best annual growth in the region was in Mole Valley, where property prices increased on average by 18.4%, to £581,000. At the other end of the scale, properties in Slough lost 0.1% of their value, giving an average price of £300,000.

Owners of detached houses saw the biggest improvement in property prices in Cherwell in October – they increased 1.3%, to £567,884 on average. Over the last year, prices rose by 16.8%.

Among other types of property:

Semi-detached: up 0.1% monthly; up 14.1% annually; £336,359 average

Terraced: up 0.3% monthly; up 13.1% annually; £274,645 average

Flats: down 0.3% monthly; up 9.4% annually; £173,634 average

First-time buyers in Cherwell spent an average of £273,000 on their property – £33,000 more than a year ago, and £36,000 more than in October 2016.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £386,000 on average in October – 41.2% more than first-time buyers.

How do property prices in Cherwell compare?

Buyers paid 8.8% less than the average price in the South East (£367,000) in October for a property in Cherwell.

Across the South East, property prices are lower than those across the UK, where the average cost £268,000.

The most expensive properties in the South East were in Elmbridge – £711,000 on average, and 2.1 times as much as more than in Cherwell. Elmbridge properties cost 3.2 times as much as homes in Southampton (£222,000 average), at the other end of the scale.

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

Fact File

Average property price in October

Cherwell: £334,503

The South East: £366,883

UK: £268,349

Annual growth to October

Cherwell: +14.3%

The South East: +10.3%

UK: +10.2%

Best and worst annual growth in the South East

Mole Valley: +18.4%

Slough: -0.1%