Swansea is top performing city in Wales over past decade: UK Property Shop News

New research from Halifax Estate Agents shows that Swansea has delivered the biggest rise in residential property prices of Wales' three largest cities with an increase of 179% from £509 per square metre (psm) in 1996 Q1 to £1,421 psm in 2006 Q1. Across the UK, Truro has delivered the biggest rise in residential property prices with an increase of 262%.

The most expensive city in Wales is Cardiff with an average psm of £1,662, while the most expensive cities in the UK are London (£3,582 psm), Oxford (£2,741 psm) and St Albans (£2,716 psm). Newport is the least expensive of the largest cities in Wales at £1,336 psm. Armagh is the least expensive city in the UK; there the average price is £1,009 psm - just over one-third of the price in London.

The gap between prices in Cardiff and Newport has widened slightly over the past decade. In 1996, the price per square metre in Cardiff was 15% higher than in Newport. In 2006 house prices in Cardiff were 24% higher than in Newport. However, the gap between prices in London and Cardiff has widened more over the last 10 years. In 1996, the price per square metre in London was 67% higher than in Cardiff. In 2006 house prices, on this basis, in London were 116% higher than in Cardiff.

KEY FINDINGS

Price movements

* House prices in Wales' largest cities have risen by more than 150% per square metre over the past decade - Swansea (179%), Cardiff (173%) and Newport (151%).

* In the past five years house price growth per square metre in Swansea (132%) and Newport (121%) has substantially outperformed Cardiff (91%).

* Prices have at least tripled in 15 (one in four) of the cities surveyed across the UK and at least doubled in all 62 cities since 1996. The majority of the cities recording the biggest increases are in southern England but Salford and Newcastle also feature in the top 10. Brighton (260%), Salford (255%), London (252%) and Bath (236%) follow Truro in the top five.

* Smaller cities have tended to be the best performers in the UK. Eight of the ten cities recording the largest increase in psm over the past ten years have an average population of less than 250,000.

Prices per square metre

* House prices per square metre in Cardiff, at £1,662 are 17% higher than in Swansea (£1,421) and 24% higher than in Newport (£1,336).

* In 2006 twelve cities across the UK have an average psm above £2,000. In 1996 only two cities had an average psm of above £1,000 - London and St Albans. Twenty seven cities have an average psm beneath £1,500 in 2006.

* Londonderry (£1,133 psm), Lisburn (£1,215 psm), Carlisle (£1,217 psm) and Newry (£1,230) are the next least expensive cities after Armagh in 2006.

* The average house in the UK has an area of 103.8 square metres. To buy a house of this size in Cardiff would cost £172,528, while it would cost £147,482 in Swansea and £138,668 in Newport. To buy a house of this size in London would cost £371,893, while it would cost £104,738 in Armagh, the least expensive city in the UK.

Changes in rankings by price per square metre since 1996

* Welsh cities have fallen slightly in the UK rankings of price per square metre over the period 1996 to 2006 - Cardiff (24th to 25th), Swansea (steady at 49th) and Newport (40th to 53rd).

* Truro has climbed the most places over the past ten years, from a ranking of 45th in 1996 to 17th in 2006, followed by Norwich (38th to 18th), Newcastle (47th to 28th), Salford (60th to 41st) and Lancaster (51st to 35th).

Commenting, Martin Ellis, Chief Economist, Halifax Estate Agents, said: "House price per square metre is a useful measure for house price comparison because it helps to adjust for differences in the size and type of properties between locations. This is a helpful descriptor to be used alongside other more established house price comparators. The strength in house prices per square metre in Swansea, Cardiff and Newport over the past decade highlights that many Welsh homeowners are attracted to the conveniences of city living, like shopping, transport links and easy commuting."