Average house prices in Wales increased by 13% over the year to December 2021, up from 12.1% in November and 15.5% in October 2021, according to figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
The last three months of a year before the Covid-19 pandemic have traditionally seen a noticeable wind down in property sales in December, with Christmas looming.
But the Coivd-19 pandemic has shaken up the classic ebbs and flows of property supply, demand and sales that used to map out a 'normal' year in the property market.
READ MORE: Tenby apartment with a hidden roof terrace where you get the best sea views
A combination of the need for more space, desire to relocate to a dream spot or be near family and the resulting rise in prices and demand, plus a fall in stock supply have impacted the property market.
Arguably the biggest impact has been in Wales, with the nation regularly topping the monthly list of areas with the highest price increase.
Across a range of sources, from financial companies to property portals to the ONS the data, although produced at different times of the month and using their own methods of analysis, every outcome has been the same - Wales has had the biggest increase in house prices across the pandemic period than any other UK region.
However, the analysis from Rightmove for February 2022 shows that Wales has descended into fourth, possibly due to a continuing short supply of stock combined with the easing of restrictions. Find out more about that here.
James Skudder, from the Country Living Group who cover the west Wales region, says: " In quarters one and two of 2022, we expect to remain at a steady pace with prices increasing between 2-3%; the traditional market of homes flooding the market in spring has changed considerably.
"The pent up nature of buyers from previous lockdowns is expected to continue, especially with many buyers' realisation that working from home will be the normal practice long term for many."
Find out more about experts' predictions for the property market in Wales in 2022 here.
James Thomas, from Savills, Cardiff says: "Wales has experienced the most exceptional property market in 2021, particularly at the top end or what we call the ‘prime market', where buyer demand has been at record levels.
"There is now a large pool of unmet demand that is particularly prevalent among buyers with £750,000 and above to spend
"To put this in context, in 2021 we sold quadruple the number of homes at or above £1million than we did pre-pandemic."
The top ten most expensive houses in Wales to have sold between and including October to December 2021 include a number of dream homes that sold above the million threshold.
All of the homes at this luxury end of the market that found new owners during the last three months of 2021 are unique, substantial and, in most people's eyes, a gorgeous property daydream.
1. Marine Parade, Penarth
The most expensive house to be sold in Wales during the three month period of October to December 2021 is this incredible period home on one of the most exclusive streets in the country.
Add to that, the street is located in a coastal town named as one of the most upmarket towns in the UK and it's not a surprise to find it was snapped up at an eye-watering sum of £2.2m in October.
2. Whitland, Carmarthenshire
Two properties, one potential extra property, substantial land and an interior that could astound even a professional designer all surely tempted the buyer to part with their dosh at this stunning dream home.
But this pretty period stone property in the Pembrokeshire countryside didn't always look this amazing.
It took former owners Liz MacFarlane and husband Bruce many years of hard graft to transform the family's 93 acre estate into a stunning home worthy of the cover of any glossy interior design magazine.
Arriving at the estate and passing the pretty lily pond and surrounded by trees, the property looks like it has its own dedicated village green. The home even has its own vast, boating lake on the other side of the driveway too.
The main house is a stone Grade II listed building that has cleverly combined several farm buildings to produce a spacious dream home.
The couple have combined contemporary with period interior design style to visually triumphant effect.
The original features are the initial astounding aspect to most of the rooms, including chunky restored beams and a wooden ceiling plus a magnificent inglenook fireplace.
Classic meets a touch of modern in many spaces by the use of classic shape furniture, natural materials, simple whitewashed walls, rope spot lights and an accent of contemporary grey via fabric and patterns, ensuring spaces ooze elegance and style as well as practical and period.
Find out more about the interior design style at this house here.
The new owner of this home can rightly be happy enjoying eight bedrooms, five bathrooms and five reception rooms as well as a substantial 93 acre slice of the countryside around Llanddewi Velfrey.
Called Waundwrgi, the house and land sold for £1,736,087 in November.
3. Mill House, Whitebrook
Imagine living the country dream in this characterful and charming converted former paper mill. The Grade II listed substantial stone building is set high in the historic Whitebrook Valley that leads down to the renowned Wye Valley.
There's even an unconverted listed building on the site to tackle and renovate into a three-storey residence, subject to planning consents, for the new owner to get working on.
After a hard day's work, either spent at the conversion site or at the office, a new owner of the mill might benefit from treating themselves to a fine-dining experience. Very handy then that the Michelin star award-winning restaurant The Whitebrook is just a stroll down the tree-lined road.
But the facilities at the mill are luxury standard too with five bedrooms, three bathrooms, three reception rooms, a grand entrance hall and a sociable kitchen diner to make any cook envious.
Italian in design, the cherry, brushed steel and granite kitchen conceals a myriad of appliances including wine cooler, coffee machine, steam oven, combination oven, multi-function oven, and ceramic induction hobs inset within a central island.
It's a potential party pad too with oodles of parking for up to 20 cars.
And when the new owner isn't having family and friends visiting, the grounds are idyllic and peaceful, with ponds and streams, mature woodland and paddocks that extend to approximately four acres to constantly enjoy.
The former mill sold for £1.5m in October 2021.
4. Near Cowbridge, The Vale Of Glamorgan
In a quiet hamlet within one of the hot spots of house prices in Wales during the Covid-19 pandemic, this truly beautiful home understandably captivated someone enough to claim it as their new home for £1.5m.
The pretty whitewashed and exposed stone sprawling home has been recently remodelled and updated to create a stunning home that effortlessly combines period features with elegant and sophisticated interior design.
The pale tones and timeless furniture with splashes of accent colour give the home an inviting feel that the new owner clearly couldn't resist.
The home might have had a history in the past and much of its features have been restored, but its spaces are also ideal for modern living, with the huge kitchen diner one of the contemporary showcase areas.
In here, as well a vast room for cooking, dining and entertaining amongst gorgeous decor, the triple height of the ceiling design above the kitchen and the whole wall of three layers of glass cements this room as a breath-taking space.
The house has five bedrooms, five bathrooms, five reception rooms and one lucky new owner who bought this beauty in November for £1.5m.
All photographs of this Vale of Glamorgan abode are by South Wales Property Photography.
Help with your hunt for a home here:
5. Plymouth Road, Penarth
There are a collection of streets in Wales that are truly the most prestigious addresses in the nation, proper prime and tasty real estate that can command, and achieve, a price tag at the upper end.
And some of these streets are an exclusive small cluster within the leafy suburbs of Penarth, Vale of Glamorgan.
They can boast some of the most eye-catching and visually stunning, and in most cases substantial, period properties, and Plymouth Road is one of them.
Situated at the top of a cliff, this quiet, tree-lined street is one of the arteries at the heart of the historic homes within this popular town.
Lined with substantial and distinctive houses, when one sells on this street it's for a hefty price-tag and ensures this road remains one of the most expensive and exclusive in Wales.
This three-storey stunner sold in November for £1.15m.
6. Pentyrch, Cardiff
In the semi-rural village near Cardiff, this substantial six-bed dream home also offered a substantial third of an acre garden too.
Behind the electric fence is a super stylish, contemporary home that combined intriguing design that created unique internal spaces with luxury interiors.
The open-plan kitchen diner is light, bright and super shiny combining gloss white units with accents of wood and an island unit with integrated breakfast bar to ensure the social nature of the space.
The bifold doors to the sunny patio is the icing on this hub of the home cake.
The main lounge is another superb, light and bright space, but the house can offer more intimate rooms too, including a snug, a playroom and an office.
But maybe the stand out feature of the house is the two-storey wall of glass that is the dominant feature from the outside and creates a unique seating area downstairs, as well as a mezzanine seating area with a view on the first floor.
This attractive area also flows into the open-plan core of the home where you will find the kitchen diner as well as a bespoke staircase that is a feature of smooth, curved beauty.
Called The Gables, the house sold for £1.1m in November 2021.
7. Bagillt, Flintshire
When a house name has the word Hall in it, you know it's likely to be a superior house with some history wrapped up within its period property walls.
Enter Bryn Madyn Hall, which can deliver on all aspects of a stunning period property, from its location in an idyllic spot yet close to Flint and Chester, and its history relating to a previous house on the site which involved battles on the border in the 12th century.
Add in views of the Dee estuary and it's a wonderful combination of factors that was obviously perfect for the new buyer.
The delightful sprawling Georgian abode can 'wow' any visitor with visually pleasing symmetry as its whitewashed facade.
For added interest this design is peppered with eye-catching features such as a columned porch, bay windows and an arch window bang in the centre of the design.
Inside, tasteful and traditional interior design with pops of colour, statement piece furniture and oodles of tactile textures and fabrics match the grand yet inviting welcome this house offers you when you arrive outside.
The house has extra spaces to delight too, such as a morning room and study, two floors of seven bedrooms and three bathrooms and added outbuildings too.
The Hall sold for £1,020,000 in October.
8. Dan Y Coed Road, Cardiff
As a suburb, Cyncoed in the capital city is one that has enduring appeal and hence enduring house prices.
The location of the first £1m sale of a house in Cardiff by agents Kelvin Francis, the area keeps tempting people to move to one of its streets, with its proximity to Roath Park, as well as within the catchment area of good schools.
The patchwork of leafy residential roads include some of the most exclusive and expensive homes in Wales, but the area can also offer apartments and more standard three-bed semi-detached houses too.
This beautiful four-bed dream home with stylish interiors has space to create a perfect family home.
The bustling sociable spaces like the open-plan kitchen diner are balanced with quieter, separate reception rooms for a more intimate atmosphere.
The kitchen diner family room opens out onto the private rear garden along two walls meaning inside outside connection and flow is maximised.
The house in the heart of Cyncoed had been renovated so all a new owner had to do was park up, move in and start enjoying life in one of the most popular suburbs in Wales.
The house sold for £950,000 in October.
9. Duffryn Road, Cardiff
Just around the corner from Dan Y Coed Road is another of Cyncoed's popular dream home streets.
This street is comprised of mainly Edwardian white-washed, detached period properties with feature mock-Tudor exposed black beams.
It is a short road that cuts through the maze of tree-lined avenues down to Dan Y Coed Road, so it is quite rare to find a home for sale here.
According to property portal Zoopla, there have only been two sales in the street in the past five years and one was this house, which sold for £931,500 in November.
10. Trelleck, Monmouthshire
This very attractive stone, double-fronted country cottage was just the rural retreat someone was looking for at the end of 2021.
And here they got a great combination of location features too, tucked away off a country lane near the glorious Wye Valley and yet not too far from Monmouth to the north and Chepstow to the south.
Of course, relocating to an area of outstanding natural beauty within Wales' most expensive county means this property purchase of £920,000 in October makes it onto the ten most expensive houses sold during October to December 2021.
Never miss the best property, renovation and interiors stories, sign up for the Amazing Welsh Homes Property Newsletter here.
