House prices increased slightly in Cornwall in February, new figures show.

​The ​boost ​contributes to the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area ​achieve 2.96 per cent annual growth​.

The average Cornwall house price in February was £237,540.11, Land Registry figures show​ – a 0.24 per cent increase on January.

Over the month, the picture was ​similar to that across the South West, where prices ​increased 0.5 per cent​, and Cornwall outperformed the 0.62 per cent drop for the UK as a whole.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in Cornwall ​​rose by £6,800 – putting the ​area seventh among the south west’s 27 local authorities for annual growth.

​The best annual growth in the region was in West Devon, where properties increased on average by 10.27%, to £279,000. ​At the other end of the scale, properties in East Devon dropped 3.4 per cent in value, giving an average price of £284,000.

Winners and losers

Owners of flats saw the biggest improvement in property prices in Cornwall in February – they increased 0.71per cent, to £140,241.66 on average. Over the last year, prices rose by 1.27 per cent.

Among other types of property:

Detached: up 0.17 per cent monthly; up 2.77 per cent annually; £344,067.42 average

Semi-detached: up 0.1 per cent monthly; up 3.44 per cent annually; £228,883.78 average

Terraced: up 0.24 per cent monthly; up 3.46 per cent annually; £188,576.05 average

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First steps on the property ladder

First-time buyers in Cornwall spent an average of £​195,700 on their property – ​£5,400 more than a year ago, ​and ​£29,400 more than in February 2015.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £​266,900 on average in February​ – 36.4 per cent more than first-time buyers.

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How do property prices in Cornwall compare?

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Buyers paid 7.9per cent less than the average price in the south west (£258,000) in February for a property in Cornwall. Across the south west, property prices are higher than those across the UK, where the average cost £230,000.

The most expensive properties in the south west were in the Cotswolds – £389,000 on average, and 1.6 times as much as in Cornwall. The Cotswolds properties cost 2.2 times as much as homes in Plymouth (£180,000 average), at the other end of the scale.

The highest property prices across the UK were in Kensington and Chelsea, where the average February sale price of £1.3 million could buy 15 properties in Burnley (average £85,000).

Average property price in February

Cornwall: £237,540.11

The south west: £258,043.97

UK: £230,331.55

Annual growth to February

Cornwall: +3.0 per cent

The South West: +1.1 per cent

UK: +1.1 per cent

Best and worst annual growth in the south west

West Devon: +10.3 per cent

East Devon: -3.4 per cent