Official Statistics

UK House Price Index Wales: June 2018

Published 15 August 2018

Applies to Wales

1. Headline statistics for June 2018

the average price of a property in Wales was

£156,886

the annual price change of a property for Wales was

4.3%

the monthly price change of a property for Wales was

1.65%

the index figure for Wales (January 2015 = 100) was

115.2

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 July 2018 UK HPI will be published at 9.30am on Wednesday 19 September 2018. See the calendar of release dates.

2. Economic statement

Wales house prices grew by 4.3% in the year to June 2018, down from 4.7% in the year to May 2018. Wales house prices are growing faster than the UK annual rate of 3.0% in the year to June 2018. On a seasonally adjusted basis, average house prices in Wales increased by 0.8% between May 2018 and June 2018, compared with an increase of 1.2% during the same period a year earlier (May 2017 and June 2017).

Land Transaction Tax statistics: April to June 2018 showed that on a non-seasonally adjusted basis, in Q2 2018, the number of transactions on residential properties with a value of £40,000 or greater in Wales was 12,910. This is down 6.5% compared to Q2 2017 as published in UK Property Transaction Statistics.Some caution is advised in comparing this series over this period as slightly different methodologies may be applied by the different organisations.

In Wales, semi-detached houses showed the biggest increase, rising by 5.6% in the year to June 2018 to £152,000. The average price of Flats and maisonettes increased by 2.7% in the year to June 2018 to £114,000, the smallest increase of all property types.

House prices have increased over the last year in 21 out of 22 local authority areas. Newport continues to show strong growth, increasing by 10.2% in the year to June 2018 to £174,000.

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

Annual price change for Wales over the past 5 years

In Wales, the average price increased by 4.3% in the year to June 2018 (down from 4.7% in May 2018).

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 June 2018 June 2017 Difference
Blaenau Gwent £83,631 £80,710 3.6%
Bridgend £149,212 £144,412 3.3%
Caerphilly £126,074 £123,926 1.7%
Cardiff £201,701 £196,146 2.8%
Carmarthenshire £138,775 £132,722 4.6%
Ceredigion £181,183 £174,728 3.7%
Conwy £164,518 £154,324 6.6%
Denbighshire £152,415 £145,467 4.8%
Flintshire £163,543 £161,566 1.2%
Gwynedd £150,410 £148,924 1.0%
Isle of Anglesey £157,959 £164,943 -4.2%
Merthyr Tydfil £103,151 £97,064 6.3%
Monmouthshire £244,332 £232,651 5.0%
Neath Port Talbot £112,821 £106,822 5.6%
Newport £173,922 £157,759 10.2%
Pembrokeshire £167,872 £165,121 1.7%
Powys £174,469 £169,401 3.0%
Rhondda Cynon Taf £107,968 £103,621 4.2%
Swansea £144,630 £140,357 3.0%
Torfaen £144,364 £128,494 12.4%
Vale of Glamorgan £217,692 £207,458 4.9%
Wrexham £155,312 £153,748 1.0%
Wales £156,886 £150,394 4.3%

Average price by local authority for Wales

Average price by local authority for Wales

In June 2018, the most expensive area to live in was Monmouthshire, where the cost of an average house was £244,000. In contrast, the cheapest area to purchase a property was Blaenau Gwent, where an average house cost £84,000.

3.2 Average price change by property type

Average price change by property type for Wales

Property type June 2018 June 2017 Difference
Detached £234,339 £225,439 3.9%
Semi-detached £151,991 £143,947 5.6%
Terraced £121,586 £116,907 4.0%
Flat or maisonette £114,043 £110,994 2.7%
All £156,886 £150,394 4.3%

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 April 2018 April 2017 Difference
Blaenau Gwent 62 60 3.3%
Bridgend 179 182 -1.6%
Caerphilly 152 184 -17.4%
Cardiff 318 391 -18.7%
Carmarthenshire 179 235 -23.8%
Ceredigion 63 74 -14.9%
Conwy 126 170 -25.9%
Denbighshire 95 87 9.2%
Flintshire 155 180 -13.9%
Gwynedd 109 123 -11.4%
Isle of Anglesey 78 76 2.6%
Merthyr Tydfil 37 68 -45.6%
Monmouthshire 89 97 -8.2%
Neath Port Talbot 120 152 -21.1%
Newport 140 184 -23.9%
Pembrokeshire 126 144 -12.5%
Powys 117 136 -14.0%
Rhondda Cynon Taf 290 298 -2.7%
Swansea 234 235 -0.4%
Torfaen 62 91 -31.9%
Vale of Glamorgan 135 197 -31.5%
Wrexham 118 126 -6.3%
Wales 3,005 3,490 -13.9%

Note: The annual % change in the ‘Difference’ column will be influenced primarily by level of completeness of the latest month’s data reported and does not necessarily reflect the genuine trends.

4.2 Sales volumes

Sales volumes for Wales over the past 5 years

Date Sales volumes for Wales
April 2014 3,360
April 2015 3,150
April 2016 2,822
April 2017 3,490
April 2018 3,005

5. Property status

New build and existing resold property for Wales

Property status Average price April 2018 Monthly change Annual change
New build £210,429 2.1% 7.9%
Existing resold property £150,819 -0.3% 2.5%

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 June 2018 Monthly change Annual change
First time buyer £135,691 1.9% 4.2%
Former owner occupier £181,538 1.4% 4.4%

7. Funding status

Cash and mortgage indicator for Wales

Funding status Average price June 2018 Monthly change Annual change
Cash £152,601 1.8% 4.0%
Mortgage £159,428 1.6% 4.5%

8. Repossession sales volume

Due to a period of 2 to 8 weeks between completion and registration of sales, repossession volume figures for the most recent two months are not yet complete, so they are not included in the report.

Repossession sales volume

Country Repossession sales volume April 2018
Wales 54

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.

The May 2018 estimate for Wales has been revised upwards by £5,400 and the annual growth rate by 3.7 percentage points as part of this release. In constructing our first estimate for a month we consider the first and second estimate for the previous month. Land Transaction Tax replaced UK Stamp Duty Land Tax in Wales from April 2018 which had an impact on the mix of data transacted for that period. This then impacted our first estimate for May 2018 which was based on 40% of available transactions. This estimate has now been revised as more data has been incorporated into the index.

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