House price boom: Conwy village sees average sale price jump by £80,000 - Wales
02-11-2014
Anglesey average house price also increased by more than £56,000 between 2012 and 2013
Trefiw saw the average sale price of its houses jump from £95,000 in 2012 to £175,000 in 2013 - when nine houses were sold
A village on the edge of Snowdonia has seen the average price of its houses increase by a whopping 84.2% - the biggest in Wales over the last year.
According to the Land Registry, the village of Trefriw, Conwy, population 1,000, saw the average sale price of its houses jump from £95,000 in 2012 to £175,000 in 2013 - when nine houses were sold.
Trefriw is popular with walkers and known for its woollen mills. It’s where Llywelyn Fawr (Prince Llywelyn the Great) ordered a hunting lodge be built in the 12th Century.
Not far behind in the “most expensive post code” list was Llannerchymedd, Anglesey – LL71 8 – where eight houses sold for an average of £80,000 in 2012 but 16 sold for an average of £136,500 last year – a 69.6% increase.
A Cardiff postcode (CF36 – Michaelston Y Fedw) had the highest average price of all in Wales in 2013 - £355,000 - but Trefriw with its LL27 0 post code saw the highest average price rise in percentage terms.
Corwen (LL21 9) saw 25 houses sold for an average of £96,500 in 2012 and 21 sold for an average of £152,000 in 2013 – up 57.5%
Bala (LL23 7) saw 31 houses sell for an average of £100,000 in 2012 and 35 for an average of £152,000 in 2013 - up 52%
Following in their footsteps were Betws-y-Coed, Llangollen, Garndolbenmaen, Harlech, some parts of Wrexham, Denbigh, Caernarfon, Pwllheli, Colwyn Bay, Llandudno, Ruthin and Rhyl - with a post code of LL18 5 where a 110 homes sold for an average of £115,000 in 2012 and a 122 sold for an average of £126,475 in 2013 - up 10%
Although the LL12 9 post code for the Wrexham area - Caergwrle, Cefn-y-Bedd, Cymau, Gresford, Hope, Llay, Marford, Rossett - showed that 36 houses had sold for an average of £129,000 in 2012 and 63 sold for an average of £160,000 in 2013 - up 24%, the post code of LL11 3 - covering Coedpoeth, Llandegla, Minera, Bradley, Gwersyllt, Rhosrobin, Stansty, Brymbo, Bwlchgwyn, Cymau, Ffrith, Gwynfryn, Tanyfron and Brynteg - did not fare so well.
In 2012, there were a 101 homes sold for an average price of £145,000 in LL113 with 79 properties sold for an average price of £99,950 in 2013 - a decrease of -31.1%
Richard Thomas, of Dafydd Hardy estate agents, said: “The market has improved a lot recently. These samples are too small to point to any ‘hot-spots’ but bring attention to the fact that prices are rising in some places more than others. If, one year, you have a lot of terraced houses selling and the market improving, the average prices for medium-priced houses increases. The picture shows the market is improving but I don’t believe that it is because of post codes. In Llannerchymedd, for example, everybody knows that house prices have not increased that much.”
Williams and Goodwin estate agent Melfyn Williams said: “The reason we see an increase in prices is because there has been an increase in the number of sales - and significantly, in the number of larger properties going for sale in the region of £5-700,000 and over. In places such as Trefriw where there are a smaller number of houses, you only need a few house sales to have an effect on the prices.
“In 2012, we had terraced houses selling well. However, in the last half of last year, 2013, we had a lot more sales in larger houses which then had an effect all-round.”
“Now, in 2014, we are still seeing the effect of the Christmas ‘hangover’ carrying on to February. Everybody now has confidence in the market and everybody believes that prices will rise.
“We are being left a little bit in limbo with everybody ready to sell but waiting to see if prices increase. It’s a Catch 22 situation.
“From talking to other estate agents, there is a need for more houses to come on to the market at this time.
Mr Williams said: “The other factor is that the market has improved at last and is going in the right way at last. While talking to other agents over the border in England, the market there has spiralled upwards with London showing more than Chester, for example, but it’s a case of steady as we go here.
“At the end of the day, post codes do matter but it has always been a case of location, location, location which is the most important factor. Now, people are also asking about broadband connections because it can allow them to work from home.
“We are also lucky to live in North and Mid Wales. We have also got projects like Wylfa B which will bring a lot of jobs to Anglesey, and, like it or not, will also bring a boost to the housing market and the economy.”