HOUSE prices increased by 1.4% in South Gloucestershire in April, new figures show.

The rise contributes to the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area grow by 11.5% over the last year.

An imbalance between supply and demand for properties has remained the primary reason behind climbing house prices across the UK throughout the pandemic.

The need for larger deposits and constraints on accessing mortgages have pushed homeownership further out of reach for many first-time buyers – despite Government figures showing 50% of renters would be able to afford the monthly payments.

In a recent major speech in Blackpool, Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced a “comprehensive review” of the mortgage market would take place in a bid to help more people onto the property ladder.

The average South Gloucestershire house price in April was £330,836, Land Registry figures show – a 1.4% increase on March.

Over the month, the picture was different to that across the South West, where prices increased 1.9%, but South Gloucestershire was above the 1.1% rise for the UK as a whole.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in South Gloucestershire rose by £34,000 – putting the area 19th among the South West’s 29 local authorities with price data for annual growth.

The highest annual growth in the region was in North Devon, where property prices increased on average by 20.8%, to £333,000.

At the other end of the scale, properties in West Devon gained just 4% in value, giving an average price of £289,000.