Average house price in Wales up 1.1% on last month

THE average house price in Wales rose by 1.1% to £218,775 in April month-on-month, according to an index.

The figure was higher than the UK average of 0.1%, which comes after a fall of 0.9% in March

Halifax, which released the report, said that typical house prices in early 2024 have “largely plateaued”.

Property values grew by 1.1% annually, accelerating from a 0.4% rise recorded the previous month.

A typical UK home cost £288,949 in April, compared with £288,781 in March, Halifax said.

Amanda Bryden, head of mortgages, Halifax, said: “While there is always much scrutiny of monthly price changes – and a degree of volatility is to be expected given current market conditions – the reality is that average house prices have largely plateaued in the early part of 2024.

“This reflects a housing market finding its feet in an era of higher interest rates.

“While borrowing costs remain more expensive than a few years ago, homebuyers are gaining confidence from a period of relative stability.

“Activity and demand is improving, evidenced by greater numbers of mortgage applications so far this year, while at an industry level mortgage approvals have reached their highest point in 18 months.

“Our recent research also found that buyers are adjusting their expectations, with first-time buyers in particular compensating for higher borrowing costs by targeting smaller properties. We see this reflected in property prices for the first few months of this year, with the value of flats rising most sharply, closing the ‘growth gap’ on bigger properties that’s existed for most of the last four years.

“However, we can’t overlook the fact that affordability constraints are still a significant challenge, for both new buyers and those rolling off fixed-term deals.

“Mortgage rates have edged up again in recent weeks, primarily as a result of expectations around future Bank of England base rate changes, with markets now pricing in a slower pace of cuts.

“If, as is still expected, downward moves in bank rate come into play later this year, fixed mortgage rates should fall.”

Alice Haine, personal finance analyst at Bestinvest by Evelyn Partners said: “While mortgage rates eased dramatically at the start of the year as hopes of imminent rate cuts soared, they have undergone a reprice in recent weeks amid market revisions over the magnitude and timing of rate cuts.

“A rate cut at this week’s (Bank of England) Monetary Policy Committee meeting appears unlikely, with rate setters likely to stick to the ‘higher for longer’ mantra for now as they wait for concrete evidence that inflationary pressures really have eased.”