HOUSE prices increased by 1.8% – more than the average for Wales – in Flintshire in April, new figures show.
The boost contributes to the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area achieve 13.6% annual growth.
The average Flintshire house price in April was £187,196, Land Registry figures show – a 1.8% increase on March.
Over the month, the picture was better than that across Wales, where prices increased 0.6%, and Flintshire outperformed the 1.9% drop for the UK as a whole.
Over the last year, the average sale price of property in Flintshire rose by £22,000 – putting the area seventh among Wales’s 22 local authorities for annual growth.
The best annual growth in the region was in Ceredigion, where property prices increased on average by 26.7%, to £237,000. At the other end of the scale, properties in Merthyr Tydfil gained 2.9% in value, giving an average price of £112,000.
Winners and Losers
Owners of semi-detached houses saw the biggest improvement in property prices in Flintshire in April – they increased 2%, to £161,172 on average. Over the last year, prices rose by 13.4%.
Among other types of property:
Detached: up 1.7% monthly; up 14.1% annually; £262,350 average
Terraced: up 1.7% monthly; up 13.5% annually; £132,390 average
Flats: up 1.5% monthly; up 9.4% annually; £92,818 average
First steps on the property ladder
First-time buyers in Flintshire spent an average of £158,000 on their property – £19,000 more than a year ago, and £28,000 more than in April 2016.
By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £210,000 on average in April – 33.2% more than first-time buyers.
How do property prices in Flintshire compare?
Buyers paid 1.2% more than the average price in Wales (£185,000) in April for a property in Flintshire. Across Wales, property prices are low compared to those across the UK, where the average cost £251,000.
The most expensive properties in Wales were in Monmouthshire – £294,000 on average, and 1.6 times as much as in Flintshire. Monmouthshire properties cost 2.7 times as much as homes in Blaenau Gwent (£109,000 average), at the other end of the scale.
The highest property prices across the UK were in Kensington and Chelsea, where the average April sale price of £1.1 million could buy 11 properties in East Ayrshire (average £105,000).
Factfile
Average property price in April
Flintshire: £187,196
Wales: £185,041
UK: £250,772
Annual growth to April
Flintshire: +13.6%
Wales: +15.6%
UK: +8.9%
Best and worst annual growth in Wales
Ceredigion: +26.7%
Merthyr Tydfil: +2.9%
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here