House prices in Dorset continue to increase in lockdown, new figures show.

The boost contributes to the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area achieve 7.7% annual growth.

The average Dorset house price in January was £311,895, Land Registry figures show – a 1.2% increase on December.

Over the month, the picture was better than that across the South West, where prices decreased 1.8%, and Dorset outperformed the 0.5% drop for the UK as a whole.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in Dorset rose by £22,000 – putting the area 15th among the South West’s 32 local authorities for annual growth.

The best annual growth in the region was in Cornwall, where property prices increased on average by 13%, to £266,000. At the other end of the scale, properties in West Devon gained 1.4% in value, giving an average price of £266,000. Owners of semi-detached houses saw the biggest improvement in property prices in Dorset in January – they increased 1.8%, to £302,905 on average. Over the last year, prices rose by 8.1%.

Other types of property: n Detached: up 1.3% monthly; up 9% annually; £461,248 average n Terraced: up 1.3% monthly; up 8.2% annually; £243,670 average n Flats: up 0.3% monthly; up 3.4% annually; £172,038 average n First steps on the property ladder n First-time buyers in Dorset spent an average of £243,000 on their property – £15,000 more than a year ago, and £39,000 more than in December 2015.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £349,000 on average in January – 43.5% more than first-time buyers.

How do property prices in Dorset compare?

Buyers paid 13.6% more than the average price in the South West (£275,000) in January for a property in Dorset. Across the South West, property prices are high compared to those across the UK, where the average cost £249,000. The most expensive properties in the South West were in the Cotswolds – £415,000 on average, and 1.3 times as much as in Dorset. The Cotswolds properties cost 2.1 times as much as homes in Plymouth (£194,000 average), at the other end of the scale.

The highest property prices across the UK were in Kensington and Chelsea, where the average January sale price of £1.3 million could buy 14 properties in Blaenau Gwent (average £93,000).

Factfile Average property price in January Dorset: £311,895 The South West: £274,648 UK: £249,309 Annual growth to January Dorset: +7.7% The South West: +6.7% UK: +7.5% Best and worst annual growth in the South West Cornwall: +13.0% West Devon: +1.4%