House prices increased by 3% – more than the average for Wales – in Carmarthenshire in August, new figures show.

The rise contributes to the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area grow by 14.4% over the last year.

The average Carmarthenshire house price in August was £209,039, Land Registry figures show – a 3% increase on July.

Over the month, the picture was different to that across Wales, where prices increased 0.2%, and Carmarthenshire was above the 0.9% rise for the UK as a whole.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in Carmarthenshire rose by £26,000 – putting the area 11th among Wales’s 22 local authorities with price data for annual growth.

The highest annual growth in the region was in Merthyr Tydfil, where property prices increased on average by 22.7%, to £157,000. At the other end of the scale, properties in Gwynedd gained 9.9% in value, giving an average price of £208,000.

An imbalance between supply and demand for properties saw house prices climb across the UK throughout the pandemic.

But experts say expectations have changed significantly in recent weeks amid mortgage rate rises, with the likelihood of a dampening effect on houseprice growth.

According to figures from Moneyfacts.co.uk On Wednesday, the average two-year fixed-rate mortgage on the market has a rate of 6.52% and the average five-year fix is at 6.36%.

There are around 900 fewer mortgage products available than there were on the day of the mini-budget in September.

Chris Druce, senior research analyst at Knight Frank, said: “Current activity in the housing market is being shaped by mortgage status.

“Those that can are pushing on and securing deals ahead of further increases, while others have paused plans to digest events.

“With affordability set to be a growing barrier for many homebuyers in the coming months, we forecast house price growth will slow from here, with price falls in 2023.”

First steps on the property ladder

First-time buyers in Carmarthenshire spent an average of £185,000 on their property – £23,000 more than a year ago, and £64,000 more than in August 2017.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £234,000 on average in August – 26.8% more than first-time buyers.

Property types

Owners of detached houses saw the biggest rise in property prices in Carmarthenshire in August – they increased 3.1%, to £283,224 on average. Over the last year, prices rose by 14.5%.

Among other types of property:

How do property prices in Carmarthenshire compare?

Buyers paid 5% less than the average price in Wales (£220,000) in August for a property in Carmarthenshire. Across Wales, property prices are lower than those across the UK, where the average cost £296,000.

The most expensive properties in Wales were in Monmouthshire – £357,000 on average, and 1.7 times as much as more than in Carmarthenshire. Monmouthshire properties cost 2.7 times as much as homes in Blaenau Gwent (£134,000 average), at the other end of the scale.

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

Factfile

Average property price in August

Annual growth to August

Highest and lowest annual growth in Wales