HOUSE prices in Gwent are still soaring - despite a cool down in England.

The latest figures from the Land Registry show the average house price in Newport has jumped 27 per cent from £109,999 last year to £139,640.

The city has caught up with where prices in the Cardiff were a year ago.

The average cost of a home in the capital has shot up from £139,083 last year to £164,041.

The data reflects a strong Welsh housing market that has yet to be hit by the slowdown affecting London and the South East of England.

Seven of the top 10 areas with the highest average price rises were in Wales.

Blaenau Gwent and Caerphilly saw the biggest changes in Gwent, recording hikes of 43 per cent and 40 per cent respectively.

Prices in Torfaen rose by 29 per cent but gains were lower in Monmouthshire, which saw an increase of 13 per cent.

The average price in Wales of a home climbed 28.6 per cent from £105,382 to £135,162.

Graham Kingston, of Kingstons estate agents in Newport, said: "These might be the latest figures but they reflect a whole year's activity and so do not show the changes of the past few months.

"The market has been relatively quiet since about July or August. I would be very surprised if the next Land Registry figures showed a further increase.

"Higher interest rates and lower confidence have led to a significant cooling in the market in Newport. The gains in Caerphilly and Blaenau Gwent could be due to investors jumping on the bandwagon and buying up houses that have historically been relatively cheap."

The proportion of mortgages taken out by the so-called Bridget Jones generation of single women has risen from 9.8 per cent in 1983 to 23.1 per cent in 2003 across Britain, according to the Halifax.