NEW figures have revealed an increase in house prices in the Vale of Glamorgan for November - making it the least affordable area in Wales for first-time buyers.

The boost contributes to the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area achieve 22.6 per cent annual growth.

First-time buyers face spending at least six times their annual wages to get on the property ladder in nearly half (45 per cent) of Britain’s local authority areas as affordability becomes more stretched.

The average Vale of Glamorgan house price in November (2021) was £289,122, Land Registry figures show – a one per cent increase on October.

Across Wales prices decreased 0.7 per cent, while there was a 1.2 per cent increase rise for the UK as a whole.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in the Vale of Glamorgan rose by £53,000 – putting the area second among Wales’s 22 local authorities with price data for annual growth, beaten only by Ceredigion, where property prices increased on average by 24.6 per cent to £248,000.

Owners of detached houses saw the biggest improvement in property prices in the Vale of Glamorgan in November – they increased 1.3 per cent to £490,379 on average. Over the last year, prices rose by 26.7 per cent.

Among other types of property in the Vale:

  • Semi-detached: up 1.1 per cent monthly; up 21.9 per cent annually; £294,567 average;
  • Terraced: up 0.8 per cent monthly; up 21.5 per cent annually; £225,658 average;
  • Flats: up one per cent monthly; up 17.6 per cent annually; £171,255 average.

First-time buyers in the Vale of Glamorgan spent an average of £239,000 on their property – £43,000 more than a year ago. By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £334,000 on average in November – 39.8 per cent more than first-time buyers.

How do property prices in the Vale of Glamorgan compare?

Buyers paid 44.7 per cent more than the average price in Wales (£200,000) in November for a property in the Vale of Glamorgan. Across Wales, property prices are high compared to those across the UK, where the average cost £271,000.

The most expensive properties in Wales were in Monmouthshire – £322,000 on average, and 1.1 times as much as more than in the Vale of Glamorgan. Monmouthshire properties cost 2.7 times as much as homes in Blaenau Gwent (£118,000 average), at the other end of the scale.

The highest property prices across the UK were in Kensington and Chelsea.