Accredited official statistics

UK House Price Index Wales: December 2022

Published 15 February 2023

1. Headline statistics for December 2022

The average price of a property in Wales was £222,402

The annual price change of a property for Wales was 10.3%

The monthly price change of a property for Wales was 0.7%

The index figure for Wales (January 2015 = 100) was 163.4

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 22 March 2023. See the calendar of release dates for more information.

2. Economic statement

Average house prices in Wales increased by 10.3% in the 12 months to December 2022, down from 11.0% in the 12 months to November 2022. In the 12 months to December 2022, average house prices in Wales were increasing faster than average house prices in the UK (9.8%).

On a non-seasonally adjusted basis, average house prices in Wales increased by 0.7% between November and December 2022, compared with an increase of 1.3% during the same period 12 months ago (November 2021 and December 2021). On a seasonally adjusted basis, average house prices in Wales increased by 0.4% between November 2022 and December 2022.

Comparing the provisional volume estimate for October 2021 with the provisional estimate for October 2022, the volume of transactions increased by 48.4% in Wales and by 77.3% in the UK.

In Wales, all local authority areas showed an increase in average house prices in the 12 months to December 2022. Blaenau Gwent showed the highest annual percentage change, rising by 23.3% to £143,000 in the 12 months to December 2022. In contrast, Conwy showed the lowest annual percentage change, increasing by 2.5% to £211,000 in the 12 months to December 2022.

In Wales, semi-detached houses showed the largest annual growth out of all property types, rising by 10.8% in the 12 months to December 2022 to £216,000. Flats and maisonettes showed the lowest annual growth, rising by 5.9% in the year to December 2022, to an average price of £138,000.

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 10.3% in the 12 months to December 2022, down from 11.0% in November 2022.

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 2022 December 2021 Difference
Blaenau Gwent £142,884 £115,920 23.3%
Bridgend £215,449 £193,369 11.4%
Caerphilly £193,260 £168,583 14.6%
Cardiff £268,187 £242,311 10.7%
Carmarthenshire £217,081 £187,214 16.0%
Ceredigion £279,439 £240,434 16.2%
Conwy £211,350 £206,272 2.5%
Denbighshire £205,570 £190,650 7.8%
Flintshire £221,468 £197,568 12.1%
Gwynedd £215,451 £192,715 11.8%
Isle of Anglesey £243,119 £226,783 7.2%
Merthyr Tydfil £157,745 £135,281 16.6%
Monmouthshire £361,326 £316,536 14.2%
Neath Port Talbot £167,718 £152,058 10.3%
Newport £243,359 £220,344 10.4%
Pembrokeshire £242,234 £227,426 6.5%
Powys £259,065 £229,911 12.7%
Rhondda Cynon Taf £165,109 £144,786 14.0%
Swansea £193,351 £186,445 3.7%
Torfaen £201,828 £182,502 10.6%
Vale of Glamorgan £317,942 £283,237 12.3%
Wrexham £208,977 £192,401 8.6%
Wales £222,402 £201,586 10.3%

Average price by local authority for Wales

In November 2022, the most expensive area to purchase a property was Monmouthshire, where the average cost was £361,000. In contrast, the cheapest area to purchase a property was Blaenau Gwent, where the average cost was £143,000.

3.2 Average price change by property type

Average price change by property type for Wales

Property type December 2022 December 2021 Difference
Detached £341,060 £308,215 10.7%
Semi-detached £215,835 £194,759 10.8%
Terraced £174,062 £157,496 10.5%
Flat or maisonette £137,638 £129,951 5.9%
All £222,402 £201,586 10.3%

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 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

Comparing the provisional volume estimate for the current month with the revised volume estimate for the corresponding month in the previous year

Local authorities October 2022 October 2021
Blaenau Gwent 69 83
Bridgend 148 218
Caerphilly 179 229
Cardiff 303 416
Carmarthenshire 183 233
Ceredigion 59 94
Conwy 137 185
Denbighshire 87 128
Flintshire 140 193
Gwynedd 117 194
Isle of Anglesey 83 97
Merthyr Tydfil 50 68
Monmouthshire 109 137
Neath Port Talbot 150 191
Newport 139 200
Pembrokeshire 140 161
Powys 125 165
Rhondda Cynon Taf 244 332
Swansea 218 317
Torfaen 77 122
Vale of Glamorgan 131 193
Wrexham 105 199
Wales 2,993 4,155

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 2022 will increase as more transactions are incorporated into the index. See our Revisions Policy for more information.

Comparing the provisional volume estimate for October 2021 with the provisional estimate for October 2022, volume transactions increased by 48.4% 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 5.1% in Wales in the 12 months to October 2022.

4.2 Sales volumes

Sales volumes for Wales over the past 5 years

Date Sales volumes for Wales
October 2018 4,387
October 2019 4,294
October 2020 4,200
October 2021 4,155
October 2022 2,993

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 2022 Monthly change Annual change
New build £327,065 2.0% 21.2%
Existing resold property £217,802 -0.4% 11.1%

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 2022 Monthly change Annual change
First time buyer £192,017 0.7% 10.6%
Former owner occupier £258,114 0.6% 10.1%

7. Funding status

Cash and mortgage indicator for Wales

Funding status Average price December 2022 Monthly change Annual change
Cash £214,535 0.7% 9.3%
Mortgage £226,928 0.6% 10.8%

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 2022
Wales 9

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