The South West remains one of the most expensive places to buy a property in the UK, figures show.

According to the Halifax, the country's largest mortgage lender, average property prices in the region rose by 4.8 per cent in 2007.

This pushed the average price of a house in the South West to £211,404, 7 per cent above the UK average of £197,071.

The Westcountry is now fourth in the UK house price table, behind London (£300,318), South East (£258,530) and Northern Ireland (£216,255).

House prices in the South West fell by 0.4 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2007, Halifax said.

David Whitehead, Halifax Estate Agency: "The housing market in the South West is slowing."

The most expensive town surveyed in the region during the fourth quarter of last year was Truro, Cornwall, with an average price of £323,231.

Bath is the second priciest location on £313,558, followed by Cirencester (£285,470), Dorchester (£283,130), Christchurch (£275,829) and Poole (£257,424).

The most affordable towns in the South West are Plymouth (£175,709), Swindon (£179,776), Trowbridge (£188,256) and Westbury (£188,992).

St Austell saw the fastest rise in house prices in the South West in 2007 with a 26 per cent increase.

Torquay and Cheltenham also enjoyed strong double digit growth at 23 per cent and 22 per cent respectively.

David Whitehead, regional manager at Halifax Estate Agency, said: "The housing market in the South West is slowing."

Over the last 10 years, terraced properties in the South West have seen the strongest growth, increasing by 256 per cent from £53,296 in 1997 to £189,653 in 2007.

Looking ahead, international property agents King Sturge has predicted that the South West housing market will increase by 2.5 per cent in 2008, compared with a national forecast of 3 per cent.

The firm blamed the Westcountry slowdown on the global credit crunch, which it said would hit the first-time buyer market.