The average house price in Wales has topped £200,000 for the first time, data from Principality Building Society’s latest Wales House Price Index has revealed.

Despite a series of lockdowns, the average Welsh house price stood at £209,723 in Q4 2020.

Last year showed the strongest annual house price inflation in 15 years (8.2%), while Principality’s report also noted record high house prices across most parts of Wales and all property types.

The index showed a double-digit percentage increase in prices in a third of the 22 local authorities, while 18 local authorities also hit new record highs in the prices recorded. 

Principality chief financial officer, Tom Denman, called the strength of the housing recovery in the second half of 2020 “striking”.

“This reflects both the stimulus provided by the Welsh Government in terms of the time-limited Land Transaction Tax holiday, the pent-up demand which built up during the first lockdown, and the race for space to buy bigger properties with larger gardens,” Denman said.

“In Q4, all local authority areas were reporting house prices higher than a year earlier. This increased demand has been driven by increased savings in many households during the lockdowns coupled with continued historic low mortgage rates. There has probably been some additional demand from buyers across the border with England, with house prices more affordable in Wales in relative terms.

“The recent UK HM Treasury review of independent forecasts for 2021 showed wide divergences in house price expectations for the year. With so many unknowns it is impossible to offer a forecast with any reasonable accuracy. However, once there is more clarity on the containment of the virus and on the full re-opening of the economy, it will become easier.”

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