National statistics

UK House Price Index Wales: April 2020

Published 19 August 2020

Applies to England and Wales

1. Headline statistics for April 2020

The average price of a property in Wales was £169,489

The annual price change of a property for Wales was 5.0%

The monthly price change of a property for Wales was 0.6%

The index figure for Wales (January 2015 = 100) was 124.5

Estimates for the most recent months are provisional and are likely to be updated as more data is incorporated into the index. Read the revision policies.

Next publication of UK HPI

The May 2020 UK HPI will be published at 9.30am on Wednesday 2 September 2020. See the provisional publication schedule for more information.

2. Economic statement

Wales house prices increased by 5.0% in the year to April 2020, down from 5.4% in the year to March 2020. Wales house prices were growing faster than UK annual rate of 2.6% in the year to April 2020. On a non-seasonally adjusted basis average house prices in Wales increased by 0.6% between March 2020 and April 2020, compared with an increase of 1.0% during the same period a year earlier (March 2019 and April 2019). On a seasonally adjusted basis, average house prices in Wales increased by 0.3% between March 2020 and April 2020.

In Wales, 21 out of 22 local authority areas showed an increase in average prices in April 2020 when compared with April 2019. In April 2020, the most expensive area to live in was Monmouthshire, where the cost of an average house was £267,831. In contrast, the cheapest area to purchase a property was Blaenau Gwent, where an average house cost £87,693.

Of all property types, terraced houses showed the biggest annual growth, rising by 7.2% in the year to April 2020, to £134,051. The smallest annual growth of all property types was for flats and maisonette, with a decrease of 1.1% in the year to April 2020 to £112,239.

As with other indicators in the housing market, which typically fluctuate from month to month, it is important not to put too much weight on one month’s set of house price data.

3. Price change

3.1 Annual price change

Annual price change for Wales over the past 5 years

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In Wales, average prices increased by 5.0% in the year to April 2020 (down from 5.4% in March 2020).

Annual price change by local authority for Wales

Low numbers of sales transactions in some local authorities can lead to volatility in the series.

While we make efforts to account for this volatility, the change in price in these local levels can be influenced by the type and number of properties sold in any given period.

Geographies with low number of sales transactions should be analysed in the context of their longer-term trends rather than focusing on monthly movements.

Local authorities	April 2020	April 2019	Difference
Blaenau Gwent	£87,693	£92,884	-5.6%
Bridgend	£155,595	£150,258	3.6%
Caerphilly	£143,281	£136,099	5.3%
Cardiff	£211,331	£208,016	1.6%
Carmarthenshire	£156,710	£146,773	6.8%
Ceredigion	£187,868	£183,190	2.6%
Conwy	£173,675	£166,552	4.3%
Denbighshire	£161,013	£151,365	6.4%
Flintshire	£175,732	£164,294	7.0%
Gwynedd	£161,973	£156,762	3.3%
Isle of Anglesey	£174,574	£170,908	2.1%
Merthyr Tydfil	£118,991	£105,473	12.8%
Monmouthshire	£267,831	£263,261	1.7%
Neath Port Talbot	£123,933	£116,241	6.6%
Newport	£188,092	£182,919	2.8%
Pembrokeshire	£182,758	£169,867	7.6%
Powys	£185,480	£183,448	1.1%
Rhondda Cynon Taf	£126,785	£109,601	15.7%
Swansea	£159,031	£147,573	7.8%
Torfaen	£164,568	£146,072	12.7%
Vale of Glamorgan	£223,524	£223,368	0.1%
Wrexham	£160,699	£157,243	2.2%
Wales	£169,489	£161,456	5.0%

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Average price by local authority for Wales

The heat map is unavailable due to the impact of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic on operational services.

In April 2020, the most expensive area to purchase a property was Monmouthshire, where the average cost was £268,000. In contrast, the cheapest area to purchase a property was Blaenau Gwent, where the average cost was £88,000.

3.2 Average price change by property type

Average price change by property type for Wales

Property type	April 2020	April 2019	Difference
Detached	£253,393	£243,846	3.9%
Semi-detached	£164,188	£156,028	5.2%
Terraced	£134,051	£125,083	7.2%
Flat or maisonette	£112,239	£113,448	-1.1%
All	£169,489	£161,456	5.0%

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4. Sales volumes

The amount of time between the sale of a property and the registration of this information varies. It typically ranges between 2 weeks and 2 months but can be longer. Volume figures for the most recent two months are not yet at a reliable level for reporting, so they are not included in the report. Published transactions for recent months will increase as later registered transactions are incorporated into the index.

Sales volume data is also available by property status (new build and existing property) and funding status (cash and mortgage) in our downloadable data tables. Transactions involving the creation of a new register, such as new builds, are more complex and require more time to process. Read Revisions to the UK HPI data for more information.

4.1 Sales volumes by local authority

Sales volumes for Wales by local authority

Local authorities	February 2020	February 2019
Blaenau Gwent	78	66
Bridgend	150	158
Caerphilly	157	154
Cardiff	313	408
Carmarthenshire	143	183
Ceredigion	57	81
Conwy	126	140
Denbighshire	99	118
Flintshire	155	157
Gwynedd	117	111
Isle of Anglesey	72	78
Merthyr Tydfil	37	43
Monmouthshire	76	85
Neath Port Talbot	119	136
Newport	174	191
Pembrokeshire	123	173
Powys	111	134
Rhondda Cynon Taf	233	237
Swansea	205	220
Torfaen	87	95
Vale of Glamorgan	136	132
Wrexham	92	107
Wales	2,863	3,207

Note: The estimate for February 2020 is calculated based on around 85% of the final registered transactions. The number of property transactions for February 2020 will increase as more transactions are incorporated into the index. See our Revisions Policy for more information.

Due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, the number of transactions for February 2020 are not directly comparable to the provisional estimate of the number of transactions for February 2019 in England and Wales. UK Property Transaction Statistics published by HM Revenue & Customs (which differ in coverage but are more complete for this period) report that on a non-seasonally adjusted basis, volume transactions increased by 1.8% in Wales in the year to February 2020.

Download this table’s data (CSV, 1KB)

4.2 Sales volumes

Sales volumes for Wales over the past 5 years

Date	Sales volumes for Wales
February 2016	3,215
February 2017	3,225
February 2018	3,276
February 2019	3,207
February 2020	2,863

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5. Property status

Transactions involving the creation of a new register, such as new builds, are more complex and need more time to process. This means they can take longer to appear in the land registers. The volume of new build transactions for the most recent two months are not at a reliable level for reporting the breakdown between new build and existing resold property, so they are not included in the report.

New build and existing resold property for Wales

Property status	Average price February 2020	Monthly change	Annual change
New build	£227,230	-1.4%	4.5%
Existing resold property	£162,911	2.1%	4.7%

Download this table’s data (CSV, 1KB)

Note: Since the October 2017 release, amendments have been made to our estimation model when calculating our provisional estimate. Find out further information and the impact of this change in methods used to produce the UK HPI.

6. Buyer status

First time buyer and former owner occupier for Wales

Type of buyer	Average price April 2020	Monthly change	Annual change
First time buyer	£147,239	1.1%	5.6%
Former owner occupier	£195,068	0.0%	4.3%

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7. Funding status

Cash and mortgage indicator for Wales

Funding status	Average price April 2020	Monthly change	Annual change
Cash	£163,014	-0.2%	3.8%
Mortgage	£173,229	0.9%	5.6%

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8. Repossession sales volume

Due to a period of 2 weeks to 2 months between completion and registration of sales, repossession volume figures for the most recent 2 months are not yet complete, so they are not included in the report.

Repossession sales volume

Country	Repossession sales volume February 2020
Wales	43

Download the data for England and Wales (CSV, 7KB)

9. Access the data

Download the data as CSV files or access it with our UK HPI tool.

Data revisions

View any revisions to previously published data in the data downloads or find out more about revisions in our guidance About the UK HPI.

10. About the UK House Price Index

The UK House Price Index (UK HPI) is calculated by the Office for National Statistics and Land & Property Services Northern Ireland. Find out about the methodology used to create the UK HPI.

Data for the UK House Price Index is provided by HM Land Registry, Registers of Scotland, The Land & Property Services/Northern Ireland Statistics & Research Agency and the Valuation Office Agency.

Find out more about the UK House Price Index.

11. Contact for Wales queries

Eileen Morrison, Data Services Team Leader, HM Land Registry

Email eileen.morrison@landregistry.gov.uk

Telephone 0300 006 5288