Prices for homes in Wales hit record high
WALES remains the region with the highest average house price increase across the UK, according to the house price index (HPI) released by the Office of National Statistics (ONS) covering the year-on-year comparison from July 2021 to July 2022.
The data indicates during this 12 month timescale the average house price in Wales has increased by 17.6% to another new record breaking high of £219,951, a 2.8% increase since the June 2022 ONS data was released.
The volume of transactions for the period July 2021 to July 2022 were also higher in our nation, with Wales recording an increase of 48.3% compared to the overall UK figure of 34.5% for the same period.
Wales’ house prices were also growing faster during this 12 month period than the UK annual rate of 15.5%. This UK percentage figure has seen the average UK house price increase to £292,000 – a £39,000 jump since July 2021.
The ONS states that the UK’S 15.5% increase is the highest annual inflation rate the UK as a whole has seen since May 2003 “mainly because of a base effect from the falls in UK prices seen this time last year, as a result of changes in the stamp duty and land transaction tax holiday”.
The next UK region to see the highest year-on-year growth from July 2021 to July 2022 after Wales is England, with a 16.4% increase to an average asking price of £312,000.
The Scottish property market appears to have slowed somewhat, with the nation going from a 16.2% growth figure in April 2022 that recorded an average asking price of £188,000, to 9.9% growth in the 12 months to July 2022, producing a new average price of £193,000.
Northern Ireland is stated to have experienced the slowest growth from July 2021 to July 2022, with the ONS recording a 9.6% increase to an average house price of £169,000.
The trend in Wales continues for all 22 counties to experience an increase in the annual average house prices, with some of the cheaper areas continuing to dominate within the top five highest increase areas – the property hot spots.
As with the previous month’s ONS figures, Monmouthshire continues to be the most expensive county to call home, with house prices here increasing by 15.4% between July 2021 and July 2022 to create an average price of £350,853.
Blaenau Gwent also continues to be the cheapest county to buy a home, with the average price £132,156. But as the latest ONS figures illustrate, this is driving the county to see the highest percentage average house price increase in Wales, sending it to the top of the list of property hot spots with an annual increase of 20%.
The county of Merthyr Tydfil is not far behind its valleys neighbour, with the ONS data stating that the area has seen a 19.8% average house price increase over the last 12 months, settling on an average cost of a home here at £152,500.
Cardiff has sunk to the bottom of the list of 22 counties regarding average annual house price increases, with the latest data stating that the capital saw a 8.3% increase during the 12 months being analysed, the only county in single figures. This has increased the average house price from £236,383 to £256,116.
Of all property types within Wales, terraced houses showed the largest annual growth, rising by 18.4% in the year to July 2022 to an average £173,000 from its 2021 level of £145,908.