Average house prices in Devon have topped £250,000 for the first time. But analysis by the BBC has found prices in more than half of neighbourhoods in England and Wales are still lower in real terms than a decade ago.

The BBC reports in 58% of wards, residential properties are selling for less now, after accounting for inflation, than they were in 2007. In the following examples, using figures from the BBC, the first figure is the average for 2017, followed by the per centage change since 2007 adjusted for inflation.

In St Loyes, Exeter, the average is £242,995 - down 8%;

In Yeo Valley, North Devon, the average is 176,950, down 17%;

In Preston, Paignton, the average is £220,000, down 10%;

In Westexe, Tiverton, the average is £225,000, up 10%;

In St Paul's, Honiton, the average is £235,000, down 2%;

In Okehampton South, the average is £164,000, down 19%;

In Kingsbridge, the average is £245,000, down 13%.

In August, the average price of a home in Devon was £253,112, up by 7.1% compared to a year before, when the average price was £236,259.
This is the first time the average price in the area has risen above £250,000.
In Exeter, prices have also topped £250,000 for the first time, rising by 8% in a year from an average of £234,123 to £252,930.
The fastest rising house prices in Devon were in Torridge, where they were up 12.1% to an average of £235,286. The slowest rising prices were in the South Hams, up 2.5% to an average of £288,043.

Exeter estate agent Kelly Forrester director of Clear Property, said a shortage of properties was pushing up prices.

She told DevonLive.com: "House prices in Exeter have always been strong, the challenge is the lack of properties coming onto the market, which results in a premium price being paid for properties."

Kelly Forrester of Clear Property in Exeter
Kelly Forrester of Clear Property in Exeter

Using statistics from the property website Zoopla, she said the current average sale price per property in Exeter is £286,185. Over the past 10 years the average price per property was £242,160, based on sales of 24,111 properties in Exeter.

Kelly added: "House prices have remained strong and in the past 12 months the average house price per property is £280,625 which represents 2,386 properties sold in Exeter. Exeter is such an attractive place to live, the increase in demand is pushing prices up!”

According to the latest figures released by the Office for National Statistics, average house prices in the UK have increased by 5.0% in the year to August 2017 (up from 4.5% in July 2017). The annual growth rate has slowed since mid-2016 but has remained broadly under 5% during 2017.

The average UK house price was £226,000 in August 2017. This is
£11,000 higher than in August 2016 and £1,000 higher than last month.

On a regional basis, London continues to be the region with the highest average house price at £484,000, followed by the South East and the East of England, which stand at £325,000 and £288,000 respectively. The lowest average price continues to be in the North East at £131,000.

The local authority showing the largest annual growth in the year to August 2017 was Wellingborough, where prices increased by 15.3% to stand at £215,000.
The lowest annual growth was recorded in Aberdeenshire, where prices fell by 5.7% to stand at £189,000.

Low numbers of sales transactions in some local authorities and London boroughs, such as the Shetland Islands and City of London can lead to volatility in the series. Whilst efforts are made to account for this volatility, the change in price in these local levels can be influenced by the type and number of properties sold in any given period.
In August 2017, the most expensive borough to live in was Kensington and Chelsea, where the cost of an average house was £1.2 million. In contrast, the cheapest area to purchase a property was Blaenau Gwent, where an average house cost £82,000.