VERAGE house prices in Newport topped £100,000 for the first time in 2003, new figures show.

Research by the Principality Building Society confirms a special investigation by the South Wales Argus last year which exclusively revealed that the cost of homes in the city had broken the £100,000 barrier.

The Principality research revealed the cost of buying a home in the city shot up by more then 26 per cent - more than double the rise the year before.

Figures from the Principality Building Society reveal that the average price of a house in Newport is now £101,171 compared with £80,193 in 2002.

Its research showed the cost of an average home in Wales had also risen above £100,000 for the first time - a rise of more than 26 per cent.

And in some areas of Wales, prices went up by more than 30 per cent. Principality chief executive Peter Griffiths said the survey showed the housing market in Wales was among the most vibrant in the UK.

"The overriding reasons for the large increase in Wales during 2003 are the low cost and availability of mortgages, together with reasonable levels of job security," said Mr Griffiths.

"Segments of the Cardiff, Newport, Swansea and North East Wales markets remain exceedingly strong and we continue to see high demand for properties in these areas."

Swansea saw the biggest increase of nearly 37 per cent with an average house price of £102,363 while in Cardiff, where prices rose by more than 30 per cent, the average cost of a home was £143,140.

Other places in Wales that saw large increases were Bangor (34.5 per cent to £93,312) and Wrexham (31.1 per cent to £98,629).

Last year the Argus reported that while house prices in most of Gwent were soaring, Blaenau Gwent was the only area in Wales showing a downturn in the housing market, according to figures from the Land Registry.

An average property in Monmouthshire - the most expensive place to live in Wales - cost £147,312, three times more than one in Blaenau Gwent. Average house prices in the county borough bucked the national trend by falling to £41,636 in the second quarter of last year compared with £41,939 the previous year.

But estate agent John Morgan then believed the area was starting to see an upturn as people were priced out of the booming markets in other parts of Gwent.