AVERAGE house prices in Gwent rose across three of the five county areas in June, new figures show.

The latest Land Registry report for June shows average house prices increased month of month in Torfaen, Monmouthshire and Caerphilly with the biggest rise in Newport.

The two areas where they fell were Caerphilly and Blaenau Gwent.

This follows the pattern for the whole of England and Wales when in June house prices went up 0.6 per cent from May, with an annual increase of 0.8 per cent. This makes the average house price across the two countries at £162,621.

Torfaen saw the biggest increase month on month when the average house value in June was £105,507. This was up 1.6 per cent on May and 1.2 per cent on the previous June.

In Newport the average house price in June was £111,327 up 0.6 per cent on May. This was up 2.1 per cent compared with last year but down from £113,758 on figures for March.

Prices in Monmouthshire were also slightly up by 0.2 per cent to £168,743 month – a 1.1 per cent increase from June 2012.

The average house price in Caerphilly fell slightly by 0.4 per cent to £96,416 compared with May and were down 0.9 per cent compared with last year.

Homeowners in Blaenau Gwent saw the average house prices drop a 9.2 per cent to £69,971 – the lowest price in the region since December 2012 when the average value was £69,090.

In Wales the average house price in June was £117,385 up 1.6 per cent since May. The total number of repossessions was 81 down 31 per cent on the previous year when there was 117.

Noah Hobbs, mortgage and sales consultant at Hathways Estate Agents in Cwmbran, said business was doing well.

He said the school holidays normally saw a decrease in sales and listings but this year staff had seen no obvious dip.

One of the reasons he said Torfaen was popular was its relatively low house prices and good transport links.

He said: "We've had a quite a few people coming over from Bristol lately. House prices are around £30,000 to £40,000 cheaper over here so it might be that for the sake of a 30 minutes drive to work people are moving."

PANEL

June 2013

Council average house price monthly change yearly change

Newport £111,327 +0.6 +2.1

Blaenau Gwent £69,971 -9.2 +2.9

Torfaen £105,507 +1.6 +1.2

Monmouthshire £168,743 + 0.2 +1.1

Caerphilly £96,416 -0.4 -0.9