WELSH house prices have beaten expectations and increased for the first time in almost a year.
In the past seven months the nation’s house prices have gone up by an average of £1,563. The average house price in Wales is now £157,779.
A flood of first-time buyers coming into the market is credited with driving the spike.
But experts have warned that the rally could lose steam if more houses are not built soon.
“The market will hit a roadblock if the lack of housing supply in Wales is not addressed,” said chartered surveyor Richard Sexton.
Average September house prices went up 0.5% on the same period a year earlier – the first such increase since February.
Stronger than expected economic growth is also credited with lifting house prices.
“The economy is racing along and the rise in confidence, underpinned by better access to mortgages, is fuelling the property market in Wales,” said Mr Sexton.
Alongside robust growth figures, the Westminster Government’s New Buy mortgage guarantee scheme is expected to propel the Welsh housing market further into the black.
