CARMARTHENSHIRE’S house prices rose by more than 10 per cent at the end of last year according to Principality Building Society.

The figures were released on Monday, January 23, which showed the building society’s Wales House Price Index for the fourth quarter of 2022 – between October and December.

The index covers the rise and fall of house prices in each of Wales’ 22 local authorities. Carmarthenshire’s average price for a home at the end of 2022 was £234,924, an increase of 13.2 per cent compared to the figures for the time in 2021.

However, compared to the previous quarter, there was only a 0.4 per cent increase for Carmarthenshire.

Across Wales, house prices peaked at an average of £249,076 at the end of 2022, which is a rise of 9.9 per cent on the end of 2021. There is also a 1.3 per cent increase when comparing against the previous quarter.

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Shaun Middleton, head of distribution at Principality Building Society, said: “Looking back at 2022, Wales has not suffered the more extreme price volatility seen in England.

"Typically, the housing market was more buoyant than expected partly because of the long-term issue of the shortage of the supply of homes, combined with pent-up demand.

“Matters have improved since the tumultuous mini budget last September, with lenders returning to the market with increased competition and modestly reduced mortgage rates. It does appear that the era of exceptionally low mortgage rates is over.

"Depending on trends in inflation and the actions of the Bank of England in terms of pushing up the base rate to counter that, we can expect mortgage rates to remain somewhat elevated for the foreseeable future.”

It is believed that there will be a market slowdown coming which is set to be impacted by the cost of living pressures, higher interest rates and stagnant earnings.

Mr Middleton said: “Clearly, there will be a more challenging environment in 2023, with the higher cost of mortgages, rising cost-of-living pressures, plus a further fall in real earnings.

"These factors will contribute to a slowing market, with house prices widely predicted by analysts to drop slightly.

“More than 1.4 million households will be coming off much lower fixed-rate loans this year and some could face a payment shock, although the stress tests which have been in place over the last ten years should mean that most mortgaged households will have the capacity to cope with the increase.”

For more information go to: www.principality.co.uk/mortgages/house-price-index