The average house in Wales has reached a record high of more than £240,000.
Principality Building Society’s latest Welsh house price index for Q2 of this year (April-June), shows that the new peak of £240,635 reflects an 11.5% annual increase and a 3.1% rise on the previous quarter.
Half of local authorities in Wales reported double digit percentage price increases in Q2, with nine areas also recording new peaks. Several authorities – Blaenau Gwent, Carmarthenshire and the Vale of Glamorgan – continue to report annual price increases of more than 15%.
Property prices were up in all local authority areas when compared with the same time last year, except for in Denbighshire where prices are nearly 3% lower. However, price increases in several authorities – including Conwy and Merthyr Tydfil – are relatively modest, and these authorities will have experienced drops in real terms after taking into account the prevailing rate of consumer price inflation.
Market conditions appear calmer, with fewer instances of large quarterly price changes in either direction, despite Powys, Bridgend, Flintshire and Swansea posting quarterly increases of 5% or more. In total, 18 local authorities reported quarterly rises in Q2, up from 14 in the previous quarter.
The index estimates there were as many as 11,900 transactions in Wales in Q2, 9% higher than in Q1 and well above corresponding levels in 2019, pre-Covid. In the second quarter of 2022, sales of detached homes are down nearly a fifth (19%) while sales of flats are up 14%.
Shaun Middleton, head of distribution at Principality Building Society, said: “Against the backdrop of significant cost of living pressures, with food, fuel and energy prices continuing to spiral, higher interest rates anticipated from the Bank of England, and the collapse in confidence levels across companies and households, there is a growing expectation that the wider economy will enter recession over the coming quarters.
"Across the UK, these cost-of living pressures have begun feeding through into lenders’ affordability calculations, whilst higher mortgage rates might affect the ability and willingness of households to borrow.
“Such changes appear modest for now, but they are cumulative in nature, and their eventual impact will be influenced by the ultimate extent of rate increases, the resilience of the jobs market and the ability of households to increase income.
"The housing market in Wales starts from a strong position, as prices have been steadily rising post-Covid restrictions but is not immune to these macro-economic challenges, and the likelihood is that housing demand and property price inflation will ease over the coming quarters.”
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