House prices have increased by 3.2% in Malvern Hills in August, new figures show.

The rise contributes to the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area grow by 10.7% over the last year.

The average Malvern Hills house price in August was £343,283, Land Registry figures show – a 3.2% increase on July house prices.

Over the month, the picture was different to that across West Midlands, where prices decreased 0.2%, and Malvern Hills was above the 0.9% rise for the UK as a whole.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in Malvern Hills rose by £33,000 – putting the area 26th among West Midlands’s 30 local authorities with price data for annual growth.

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The highest annual growth in the region was in Stafford, where property prices increased on average by 18.3%, to £274,000.

At the other end of the scale, properties in North Warwickshire gained 7.8% in value, giving an average price of £255,000.

An imbalance between supply and demand for properties saw house prices climb across the UK throughout the pandemic.

But experts say expectations have changed significantly in recent weeks amid mortgage rate rises, with the likelihood of a dampening effect on house price growth.

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According to figures from Moneyfacts.co.uk On Wednesday, the average two-year fixed-rate mortgage on the market has a rate of 6.52% and the average five-year fix is at 6.36%.

There are around 900 fewer mortgage products available than there were on the day of the mini-budget in September.

Chris Druce, senior research analyst at Knight Frank, said: “Current activity in the housing market is being shaped by mortgage status.

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“Those that can are pushing on and securing deals ahead of further increases, while others have paused plans to digest events.

“With affordability set to be a growing barrier for many homebuyers in the coming months, we forecast house price growth will slow from here, with price falls in 2023.”

First-time buyers in Malvern Hills spent an average of £280,000 on their property – £27,000 more than a year ago, and £72,000 more than in August 2017.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £382,000 on average in August – 36.7% more than first-time buyers.