HPI Video Transcript

I'm delighted that our house price index data is now out, showing that the average house price in Wales reached 258,000 pounds, up 0.6% quarter on quarter and up 4% year on year.

For first time buyers, our data shows that the average deposit has actually dropped to 35,000 pounds, making home ownership just a little bit more affordable for people. Affordability is a challenge. When we talk to our members, 17% of them tell us they believe that housing in their area is affordable. We've committed to being part of the solution and our commercial lending arm is out there trying to help increase the supply of housing, really going to our core purpose of helping our members achieve homeownership.

2026 has been a period of global and macro-economic uncertainty that's really challenged the housing market, but it's shown remarkable resilience. As we look out into 2027, hopefully things will start to stabilise. For me, as I look through the stats, the thing that stood out for me was the growth in Newport, where we'd seen nearly a 50% increase in the home mover activity. I think reflecting people looking for alternatives outside of the key accommodations in Cardiff and Bristol and the great transport links in Newport making it a really attractive place for people to look into commute to either other cities.

Our data shows that the market showed remarkable resilience in Q2, picking up activity after a softer start to the year. As we look ahead, we're committed to working with the Welsh Government and increasing the housing supply and our Commercial Lending businesses is right at the heart of that, supporting the majority of housing associations in Wales.