Accredited official statistics

UK House Price Index Wales: December 2021

Published 16 February 2022

1. Headline statistics for December 2021

The average price of a property in Wales was £204,835

The annual price change of a property for Wales was 13.0%

The monthly price change of a property for Wales was 2.0%

The index figure for Wales (January 2015 = 100) was 150.5

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 January 2022 UK HPI will be published at 9.30am on Wednesday 23 March 2022. See the calendar of release dates for more information.

2. Economic statement

Wales house prices increased by 13.0% in the year to December 2021, up from 12.6% in November 2021. Wales house prices were growing faster than the UK annual rate of 10.8% in the year to December 2021. On a non-seasonally adjusted basis average house prices in Wales increased by 2.0% between November and December 2021, compared with an increase of 1.7% during the same period a year earlier (November and December 2020). On a seasonally adjusted basis, average house prices in Wales increased by 1.9% between November and December 2021.

Comparing the provisional volume estimate for October 2020 with the provisional estimate for October 2021, volume transactions decreased by 45.7% in Wales. UK volume transactions decreased by 56.0% over the same period.

In Wales, all local authority areas showed an increase in average house prices in December 2021 when compared with December 2020. Vale of Glamorgan showed the strongest growth, rising by 20.8% to £294,000 in the year to December 2021. In contrast, Gwynedd showed the lowest annual change, with an increase of 6.1% in the year to December 2021, with the average house price at £187,000.

Of all property types, detached houses showed the biggest annual growth, rising by 15.4% in the year to December 2021 to £317,000. The lowest annual change of all property types was for flats and maisonettes, with an increase of 8.5% in the year to December 2021 to £131,000.

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

In Wales, average prices increased by 13.0% in the year to December 2021, up from 12.6% in November 2021.

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 December 2021 December 2020 Difference
Blaenau Gwent £113,473 £102,298 10.9%
Bridgend £201,020 £170,680 17.8%
Caerphilly £167,060 £150,670 10.9%
Cardiff £247,852 £219,770 12.8%
Carmarthenshire £188,366 £166,422 13.2%
Ceredigion £240,179 £201,696 19.1%
Conwy £207,446 £186,950 11.0%
Denbighshire £192,688 £170,570 13.0%
Flintshire £198,278 £185,977 6.6%
Gwynedd £187,001 £176,279 6.1%
Isle of Anglesey £224,057 £195,940 14.3%
Merthyr Tydfil £135,016 £117,443 15.0%
Monmouthshire £329,862 £293,684 12.3%
Neath Port Talbot £155,531 £134,678 15.5%
Newport £223,281 £197,076 13.3%
Pembrokeshire £233,913 £194,816 20.1%
Powys £229,249 £206,584 11.0%
Rhondda Cynon Taf £141,916 £129,324 9.7%
Swansea £188,632 £163,220 15.6%
Torfaen £185,437 £164,307 12.9%
Vale of Glamorgan £293,623 £243,076 20.8%
Wrexham £197,901 £168,280 17.6%
Wales £204,835 £181,274 13.0%

Average price by local authority for Wales

In December 2021, the most expensive area to purchase a property was Monmouthshire, where the average cost was £330,000. In contrast, the cheapest area to purchase a property was Blaenau Gwent, where the average cost was £113,000.

3.2 Average price change by property type

Average price change by property type for Wales

Property type December 2021 December 2020 Difference
Detached £317,403 £274,956 15.4%
Semi-detached £197,369 £174,806 12.9%
Terraced £158,776 £141,909 11.9%
Flat or maisonette £131,091 £120,797 8.5%
All £204,835 £181,274 13.0%

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 2 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 October 2021 October 2020
Blaenau Gwent 42 98
Bridgend 98 252
Caerphilly 108 211
Cardiff 209 455
Carmarthenshire 114 280
Ceredigion 35 121
Conwy 103 181
Denbighshire 47 161
Flintshire 89 194
Gwynedd 125 147
Isle of Anglesey 58 106
Merthyr Tydfil 32 67
Monmouthshire 64 106
Neath Port Talbot 107 217
Newport 87 173
Pembrokeshire 75 158
Powys 85 180
Rhondda Cynon Taf 156 321
Swansea 141 287
Torfaen 57 112
Vale of Glamorgan 88 212
Wrexham 97 161
Wales 2,017 4,200

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

Note: The number of property transactions for October 2021 will increase as more transactions are incorporated into the index. See our Revisions Policy for more information.

Comparing the provisional volume estimate for October 2020 with the provisional estimate for October 2021, volume transactions decreased by 45.7% 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 decreased by 0.2% in Wales in the year to October 2021.

4.2 Sales volumes

Sales volumes for Wales over the past 5 years

Date Sales volumes for Wales
October 2017 4,471
October 2018 4,387
October 2019 4,294
October 2020 4,200
October 2021 2,017

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 2 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 October 2021 Monthly change Annual change
New build £292,721 3.9% 29.3%
Existing resold property £195,976 0.3% 13.2%

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 December 2021 Monthly change Annual change
First time buyer £175,908 2.3% 12.5%
Former owner occupier £238,945 1.7% 13.6%

7. Funding status

Cash and mortgage indicator for Wales

Funding status Average price December 2021 Monthly change Annual change
Cash £197,658 1.5% 12.0%
Mortgage £208,930 2.2% 13.4%

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 October 2021
Wales 2

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