National statistics

UK House Price Index Wales: June 2019

Published 14 August 2019

Applies to England and Wales

1. Headline statistics for June 2019

the average price of a property in Wales was

£163,768

the annual price change of a property for Wales was

4.4%

the monthly price change of a property for Wales was

1.2%

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

120.3

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 2019 UK HPI will be published at 9.30am on Wednesday 18 September 2019. See the calendar of release dates.

2. Economic statement

Wales house prices increased by 4.4% in the year to June 2019, down from 4.6% in the year to May 2019. Wales house prices were growing faster than the UK annual rate of 0.9% in the year to June 2019. On a non-seasonally adjusted basis average house prices in Wales increased by 1.2% between May 2019 and June 2019, compared with a rise of 1.4% during the same period a year earlier (May 2018 and June 2018). On a seasonally adjusted basis, average house prices in Wales increased by 0.1% between May 2019 and June 2019.

The Land Transaction Tax statistics showed that on a non-seasonally adjusted basis, in the 3 months to June 2019 the number of transactions on residential properties with a value of £40,000 or greater in Wales was 13,100. This is down 0.8% compared with the 3 months to June 2018.

In Wales, all property types showed an increase in average prices in June 2019 when compared with the same month in the previous year. Terraced houses showed the biggest increase, rising by 5.0% in the year to June 2019 to £127,000. The smallest increase of all property types was for flats and maisonettes, with an increase of 0.8% in the year to June 2019 to £114,000.

House prices rose over the last year in 20 out of 22 local authority areas. The biggest average price increase was in Monmouthshire, where prices increased by 13.6% in the year to June 2019 to £284,000. The biggest fall was recorded in Ceredigion, where average prices fell over the year by 2.8% to £175,000.

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

A chart showing the annual price change for Wales over the past 5 years.

In Wales, average prices increased by 4.4% in the year to June 2019 (down from 4.6% in May 2019).

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 2019 June 2018 Difference
Blaenau Gwent £90,377 £85,332 5.9%
Bridgend £155,277 £146,786 5.8%
Caerphilly £136,494 £126,710 7.7%
Cardiff £206,149 £202,848 1.6%
Carmarthenshire £147,785 £138,762 6.5%
Ceredigion £174,644 £179,685 -2.8%
Conwy £163,050 £159,257 2.4%
Denbighshire £151,693 £152,147 -0.3%
Flintshire £170,443 £163,181 4.5%
Gwynedd £159,360 £150,446 5.9%
Isle of Anglesey £177,374 £165,340 7.3%
Merthyr Tydfil £105,543 £102,033 3.4%
Monmouthshire £283,736 £249,820 13.6%
Neath Port Talbot £122,088 £112,754 8.3%
Newport £182,039 £174,795 4.1%
Pembrokeshire £176,906 £166,216 6.4%
Powys £181,787 £177,196 2.6%
Rhondda Cynon Taf £112,033 £108,245 3.5%
Swansea £148,593 £144,141 3.1%
Torfaen £153,451 £140,505 9.2%
Vale of Glamorgan £235,874 £215,247 9.6%
Wrexham £160,844 £156,116 3.0%
Wales £163,768 £156,864 4.4%

Average price by local authority for Wales

A heat map showing the average price by local authority for Wales.

In June 2019, the most expensive area to purchase a house was Monmouthshire, where the average cost of a house was £284,000. In contrast, the cheapest area to purchase a house was Blaenau Gwent, where the average cost of a house was £90,000.

3.2 Average price change by property type

Average price change by property type for Wales

Property type June 2019 June 2018 Difference
Detached £246,123 £236,211 4.2%
Semi-detached £159,061 £151,609 4.9%
Terraced £127,172 £121,143 5.0%
Flat or maisonette £113,974 £113,053 0.8%
All £163,768 £156,864 4.4%

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 2019 April 2018
Blaenau Gwent 77 65
Bridgend 175 202
Caerphilly 168 158
Cardiff 314 363
Carmarthenshire 181 201
Ceredigion 68 71
Conwy 157 140
Denbighshire 119 100
Flintshire 170 185
Gwynedd 136 123
Isle of Anglesey 79 91
Merthyr Tydfil 58 38
Monmouthshire 80 103
Neath Port Talbot 150 130
Newport 162 196
Pembrokeshire 145 142
Powys 123 131
Rhondda Cynon Taf 242 308
Swansea 215 257
Torfaen 86 76
Vale of Glamorgan 148 158
Wrexham 111 129
Wales 3,181 3,367

Note: The ‘Difference’ column has been removed from this table as the latest month’s data are not yet complete.

The estimate for April 2019 is calculated based on around 85% of the final registered transactions. The number of property transactions for April 2019 will increase as more transactions are incorporated into the index.

Comparing the provisional volume estimate for April 2018 with the provisional estimate for April 2019, volume transactions increased by 5.9% in 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 2.8% in Wales in the year to April 2019.

4.2 Sales volumes

Sales volumes for Wales over the past 5 years

Date Sales volumes for Wales
April 2015 3,150
April 2016 2,822
April 2017 3,490
April 2018 3,367
April 2019 3,181

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 April 2019 Monthly change Annual change
New build £215,497 1.1% 5.1%
Existing resold property £158,410 1.0% 5.2%

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 2019 Monthly change Annual change
First time buyer £141,234 1.2% 4.2%
Former owner occupier £190,104 1.3% 4.6%

7. Funding status

Cash and mortgage indicator for Wales

Funding status Average price June 2019 Monthly change Annual change
Cash £158,359 0.6% 3.9%
Mortgage £166,938 1.5% 4.7%

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 April 2019
Wales 40

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