HOUSE prices increased by 1.5 per cent in the Dudley borough in January, new figures show.

The boost contributes to the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area achieve 10 per cent annual growth.

The average Dudley house price in January was £214,921, Land Registry figures show – a 1.5 per cent increase on December.

Over the month, the picture was better than that across West Midlands, where prices decreased by 0.1 per cent, and Dudley outperformed the 0.4 per cent rise for the UK as a whole.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in Dudley rose by £20,000 – putting the area 17th among West Midlands’s 30 local authorities with price data for annual growth.

First-time buyers in the Dudley borough spent an average of £188,000 on their property – £16,000 more than a year ago, and £48,000 more than in January 2017.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £239,000 on average in January – 27.4 per cent more than first-time buyers.

Buyers paid 8.9 per cent less than the average price in the West Midlands (£236,000) in January for a property in Dudley.

Across West Midlands region, property prices are lower than those across the UK, where the average cost £274,000.