Property portal Rightmove says the 2022 property market across the UK continues to set new milestones for prices and activity levels. This includes house prices coming onto the market hitting a new record high in the UK for the third month in a row.
Described as a ‘spring market frenzy’, Wales again topped the regional list with the highest average year-on-year house price increase of 14.5% and a monthly increase of 2.7%.
The property portal puts the average house price in the UK at £360,101, with research from the Principality’s building society indicating that the average house price in Wales is now £233,361.
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The figure sets a new record for Welsh property prices, up 3% in the first quarter of 2022, according to the Principality.
The latest house price index from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) for Wales, released on April 13, covers the period up to and including February 2022 and breaks down house price increase figures at the county level.
ONS data reveals that Merthyr Tydfil, Vale of Glamorgan and Blaenau Gwent are the top three counties in Wales to have the biggest year-on-year increases in average house prices to February.
1. Merthyr Tydfil: 22.7% increase in average price now at £147,837
2. Vale of Glamorgan: 20.6% increase in average price now £301,218
3. Blaenau Gwent: 18.8% increase in average price now at £122,221
4. Neath Port Talbot: 18.0% increase in average price now at £154,510
5. Ceredigion: 17.6% increase in average price now £240,976
6. Caerphilly: 16.7% increase in average price now at £177,006
7. Conwy: 16.1% increase in average price now at £209,880
8. Gwynedd: 15.1% increase in average price now at £202,108
9. Carmarthenshire: 14.9% increase in average price now at £194,890
10. Pembrokeshire: 14.6% increase in average price now £229,187
11. Isle of Anglesey: 14.4% increase in average price now £228,788
12. Wrexham: 13.3% increase in average price now at £197,476
13. Rhondda Cynon Taf: 13.0% increase in average price now at £145,968
14.Monmouthshire: 11.7% increase in average price now £336,692
15. Cardiff: 11.6% increase in average price now £250,224
16. Powys: 11.6% increase in average price now £237,610
17. Torfaen: 11.2% increase in average price now at £183,931
18. Bridge: 11.2% increase in average price now at £190,771
19. Denbighshire: 10.8% increase in average price now at £194,922
20. Swansea: 10.5% increase in average price now at £185,164
21. Newport: 10.2% increase in average price now £223,798
22.Flintshire: 9.1% increase in average price now at £201,483
At the UK level, the three months from January to March 2022 saw a price jump of over £19,000, which is the largest seen in a three-month period since records began.
As the frenetic activity continues, properties are selling faster than ever before recorded by Rightmove. According to their data, at the UK level, the pace is twice as fast as in the more normal, pre-pandemic market of 2019.
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In 2019 on the portal, the average time to sell was 67 days, the latest figures show an average of only 33 days before a property is marked as sold under contract on Rightmove.
Of course, this is an average, and some popular properties sell within days while others can still take months to find and secure a new owner.
Rightmove also reports that 53% of UK properties are selling at or above the full asking price, again the highest level ever measured.
(Image: Sterling Homes, Birmingham / move right)
Overall, Rightmove’s analysis shows that properties average 98.9% of the advertised final asking price, which is also the highest percentage since their records began.
In terms of what sells and where, sales are up in all Rightmove lower, mid and upper market sectors and in all regions. It’s called a “full house” and it’s only the second time it’s happened since 2007, the first being in October 2021.
Wales: 14.5%
Southwest: 13.5%
East Midlands: 12.5%
East of England: 11.4%
North West: 11.4%
Northeast: 11.2%
West Midlands: 10.7%
Southeast: 10.6%
Yorkshire and Humberside: 9.8%
Scotland: 7.5%
London: 6.6%
Tim Bannister, Director of Real Estate Data at Rightmove, comments: “While increasing affordability constraints mean this momentum is not sustainable over the long term, strong demand from large numbers of buyers looking for too few properties for sale led to a price frenzy in the spring, a triple month of record prices and the largest price increase over a three-month period that Rightmove has ever recorded.
“The strong momentum continued from last year and, combined with the impetus of the spring moving season, generated the fastest selling market we have ever seen.”
However, Rightmove also suggests that the pace of price increases now appears to be slowing down a bit, with the 1.6% increase in April 2022 being lower than the 1.7% and 2.3% in March and February 2022, decreasing slightly due to accessibility constraints. and economic headwinds combine.
(Image: Dafydd Hardy Llandudno / movement to the right)
While it is normal to see modest seasonal price declines over several months in the second half of the year, with inventories remaining at record highs and strong underlying demand, Rightmove says it is not do not expect these declines to be larger than usual in 2022 and sustained price declines are unlikely.
Tim Bannister says: “The economic headwinds of a sharp rise in inflation and a modest rise in interest rates are being held at bay by the even stronger winds of housing market momentum which have continued since last year.
“The year 2021 has seen four consecutive monthly price records from April to July and I wouldn’t bet against an improvement this year as we are already at three consecutive record highs in April.
(Photo: Matthew Horwood)
“There are some early signs that the torrid pace of price increases is slowing, and buyer inquiries from agents are down 16% from last year’s stamp duty frenzy. However, Incredibly, buyer inquiries are still 65% higher than the more normal market of 2019 and the number of closed sales is up 21%.
“Although there is growing economic uncertainty, our current market statistics show that it is more certain that your property will sell faster than ever before, and probably at a record price.
“It can’t and won’t continue like this, but with the imbalance of demand and supply being so out of balance, it looks like any substantial downturn will be gradual and be a soft landing rather than a hard one.
“It seems likely that the mismatch between supply and demand will persist for at least the rest of this year. Even with some economic uncertainty, where you live and where you live is such a fundamental decision for people that ‘She will remain a priority for many.”
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