House prices increased in North Somerset in December, new figures show.

Land Registry figures show the average North Somerset house price in December was £268,235 - a 0.2 per cent increase on November.

Buyers in the South West paid 2.3 per cent more than the average price in the South West (£262,000) in December for a property in North Somerset.

Across the South West, property prices are higher than those across the UK, where the average cost £235,000.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in the region rose by £1,600 - putting the area 25th among the South West's 36 local authorities for annual growth.

The boost contributes to the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area achieve 0.6 per cent annual growth.

North Somerset underperformed compared with the 0.3 per cent rise for the UK.

First-time buyers spent an average of £220,410 on their property - £550 more than a year ago, and £44,430 more than in December 2014.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £301,740 on average in December - 36.9 per cent more than first-time buyers.

Nick Webb, manager of Hobbs and Webbs, in Waterloo Street, said: "House prices are on the increase since Brexit has given people stability and confidence. We will see the spread into spring.

"The prices are reasonable in comparison to Bristol.

"The top-end market homes were quieter because people couldn't find a lack of housing to move into, but there's now a lot more optimism out there."

The average price for property in the UK in December was £234,742.

The most expensive properties in the South West were in the Cotswolds, priced £384,000 on average and 1.4 times as much as in North Somerset.

The Cotswolds properties cost 2.1 times as much as homes in Plymouth (£181,000 average), at the other end of the scale.

The highest property prices across the UK were in Kensington and Chelsea, where the average December sale price of £1.3million could buy 14 properties in Burnley (average £92,000).