The cost of homes in Devon has risen by 3.2 per cent over the past 12 months, with the average homeowner in the county seeing their property value jump by around £44,000 in the last five years.

The latest data from the Office of National Statistics (ONS) shows that the average property in the area sold for £258,546 - above the UK average of £229,431.

The figures show Devon is doing a lot better than other parts of the country.

London stands out as the nation's worst performing region, where prices have fallen by 4.4 per cent compared to this time last year. The North East saw prices fall by 0.7 per cent year-on-year, compared to annual growth last year of 1.4 per cent.

Across the South West, property prices have risen by 2.6 per cent in the last year, to £257,563.

The data comes from the House Price Index, which the ONS compiles using house sale information from the Land Registry and the equivalent bodies in Scotland and Northern Ireland.

The figures showed that buyers who made their first step onto the property ladder in Devon in May this year spent an average of £207,331 - around £34,000 more than it would have cost them five years ago.

Between April last year and March this year, the most recent 12 months for which sales volume data is available, 14,600 homes were sold in Devon, 7.3 per cent fewer than in the previous year.

The highest house prices in the country in May were found in London's Kensington and Chelsea, where properties sold for an average of £1.25million - 15 times the cost of a home in Burnley, where the average property cost just £86,000.

IN EAST DEVON:

Those wanting to buy in East Devon saw a slight drop in prices in May this year of 0.6 per cent, despite witnessing a 1.4 per cent rise over the last 12 months.

The latest ONS data shows the average property in the area sold for £282,602. Buyers who made their first step onto the property ladder in East Devon in May also spent an average of £217,225 - around £37,000 more than it would have cost them five years ago.

A total of 3,031 homes were sold in East Devon, five per cent fewer than in the previous year - according to the data for between April last year and March this year.

The average homeowner in East Devon will have seen their property jump in value by around £50,000 in the last five years.