HOUSE prices in Swindon rose by more than £20 a day last year, according to figures from the Land Registry.

The Registry's records show that in 2004 the average home in the town went up from £147,165 to £155,169.

While that may seem good news for homeowners, Swindon's rise was the eighth lowest in the country for the 109 counties and unitary authorities, at 5.4 per cent.

Only Bournemouth, Hampshire, North Somerset, Hartlepool, Torbay, the City of Nottingham and the Vale of Glamorgan saw lower rises.

The place with the highest rise in the country was Merthyr Tydfil, which saw a whopping 44 per cent increase, but still only saw the average house priced at £88,794. The figures relate to the first three months of this year compared with the same period last year.

Even though it may appear that Swindon is slipping behind the rest of the country, the 5.4 per cent rise is significantly more than the increase of 2.3 per cent in 2003.

The average rise for the south west in the last year is 9.7 per cent. Nationally it was 10.3 per cent.

Andrew's estate agents' Wiltshire area manager Julian Knops said: "Today's results are relatively good news for homeowners in the town.

"But we should sound a note of caution Land Registry figures can mask the true picture of the housing market because of the time lag between the houses in question being sold and the completion price being registered,

"For instance, figures included in this report may include property that may have been sold up to six months ago.

"Clearly, the reality in Swindon today is that price rises are now slowing down towards a more maintainable rate, as they are across the rest of the UK."

But the forecast remains strong, said Mr Knops, and there is still a significant demand for property of all types.

"Buyers are beginning to be more patient and more ready to try to negotiate on price," he said.

"In many ways this should be welcomed as it means our house prices do not completely alienate those trying to get on to the bottom of the property ladder."

Last month Swindon's Nationwide Building Society repeated its prediction that house prices would stay stable this year.

The firm reported they had grown 0.9 per cent in April and it has forecast a soft landing for the market, rather than a crash.