House prices increased in the Cotswolds in May, new figures show.

​The ​boost ​contributes to the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area ​achieve 8.3 per cent annual growth​.

The average Cotswolds house price in May was £411,390, Land Registry figures show​ – a 4.1 per cent increase on April.

Over the month, the picture was ​better than that across the South West, where prices ​decreased 0.4 per cent​, and the Cotswolds outperformed the 0.3 per cent rise for the UK as a whole.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in the Cotswolds ​​rose by £31,000 – putting the ​area second among the South West’s 29 local authorities for annual growth.

​The best annual growth in the region was in Stroud, where properties increased on average by 10.3 per cent, to £300,000. ​

Owners of semi-detached houses saw the biggest improvement in property prices in the Cotswolds in May – they increased 4.4 per cent, to £374,725 on average. Over the last year, prices rose by 8.6 per cent.

Among other types of property were detached: up 3.9 per cent monthly; up 9.1 per cent annually; £615,738 average, and terraced: up 3.9 per cent monthly; up 7.7 per cent annually; £321,996 average.

First-time buyers in the Cotswolds spent an average of £​311,000 on their property – ​£23,000 more than a year ago, ​and ​£73,000 more than in May 2015.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £​456,000 on average in May​ – 46.6 per cent more than first-time buyers.

Buyers paid 57.6 per centmore than the average price in the South West (£261,000) in May for a property in the Cotswolds. Across the South West, property prices are high compared to those across the UK, where the average cost £236,000.

The most expensive properties in the South West were in the Cotswolds – £411,000 on average.

The Cotswolds properties cost 2.3 times as much as homes in Plymouth (£175,000 average), at the other end of the scale.

The highest property prices across the UK were in Kensington and Chelsea, where the average May sale price of £1.4 million could buy 16 properties in Burnley (average £88,000).