Double-digit house price surge across 4 counties
MAJOR RISES ADD TO FEARS YOUNG CAN’T GET FIRST FOOT ON PROPERTY LADDER
FOUR counties in North Wales saw double-digit house price rises last year as two reports highlight growing hurdles to young people buying homes.
The House Price Index from Principality Building Society showed prices spiked 16% on Anglesey and nearly 14% in Conwy.
They said this was due to low mortgage rates, the Land Transaction Tax holiday and “probably” increased demand from buyers in England.
This is causing a crisis in affordability as local young people are priced out of the market.
On Anglesey the percentage of homes available to single people is now just 25% according to Online Mortgage Advisor, using research based on median wages and house prices.
Meanwhile figures released by the Halifax bank show the average deposit for a first time buyer has gone up by a quarter in a year.
People looking to set up home are now expected to pay an average of £32,663 for a deposit, up £6,634 or 25% on the previous year, the biggest jump of anywhere in the UK.
A councillor who has campaigned over affordable property says the prospect of owning a home could be a thing of the past for young people in some areas.
Cllr Aaron Wynne, Plaid Cymru candidate for Aberconwy, said: “People in Wales are looking at the prospect of having to live at home or house share into their 40s now.”
Summary of key highlights from the Principality report:
House prices in Anglesey have the highest annual increase across all of Wales and reached a new peak of £237,782, an annual increase of 16%.
House prices in Conwy have risen to £224,068, up 13.7%.
House prices in Flintshire have risen to £216,224, up 13.3%.
House prices in Wrexham have risen to £193,151, up 10.2%.
House prices in Gwynedd have risen to £202,155, up 7.7%.
The average house price across Wales is £209,723, an 8.2% annual rise and topping £200,000 for the first time, the strongest annual house price inflation in 15 years.
Tom Denman, chief financial officer at Principality Building Society, said: “The strength of the housing recovery in the second half of 2020 is striking, and this reflects both the stimulus provided by the Welsh Government in terms of the time-limited Land Transaction Tax holiday, the pent-up demand which built up during the first lockdown, and the race for space to buy bigger properties with larger gardens.”
Overall transactions were down by 21% in 2020, as a result of the pandemic.
Meanwhile research from Online Mortgage Advisor has revealed where property prices have outgrown local wages the most in the last decade.
In Wales, 14 out of 22 local authorities became less affordable.