Rents 'rising nearly twice as fast as a year ago'
Rents in Wales are rising nearly twice as fast as a year ago, according to an index.
Zoopla says they are up by 2.7% with the average now £599 a month. In Cardiff rents rose to an average £785 per month and in Swansea the average is £677.
House prices have reached an all-time high, but sales in 2019 were down by 6 compared to the previous year, according to the House Price Index.
The largest decrease in sales was in flats, which are down by more than 32 per cent.
The House Price Index said the drop is likely to be due to the uncertainties associated with Brexit and the December general election.
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In Cardiff, rent increased by nearly 3 per cent to an average of £785 a month.
Swansea saw a 2 per cent rise, with the average monthly cost reaching £600.
Here are average monthly rents in the fourth quarter of 2019 and annual increases or decreases in rental prices in major towns and cities across the UK, according to Zoopla:
Nottingham, £679, 5.8%
Bristol, £983, 5.5%
York, £844, 5.0%
Leeds, £715, 4.4%
Preston, £571, 4.0%
Stoke, £520, 3.9%
Leicester, £727, 3.7%
Edinburgh, £950, 3.5%
Norwich, £765, 3.3%
Liverpool, £586, 3.2%
Bournemouth, £954, 2.9%
Cardiff, £785, 2.9%
Manchester, £732, 2.9%
Plymouth, £670, 2.8%
Derby, £579, 2.8%
London, £1,577, 2.8%
Hull, £471, 2.7%
Brighton, £1,292, 2.7%
Milton Keynes, £926, 2.4%
Glasgow, £636, 2.4%
Portsmouth, £858, 2.4%
Gloucester, £702, 2.4%
Cambridge, £1,200, 2.3%
Belfast, £599, 2.2%
Oxford, £1,369, 2.1%
Reading, £1,067, 2.0%
Swansea, £600, 2.0%
Ipswich, £677, 1.8%
Southampton, £843, 1.7%
Birmingham, £668, 1.6%
Northampton, £751, 1.5%
Huddersfield, £519, 1.4%
Sheffield, £583, 1.3%
Swindon, £735, 1.3%
Bradford, £489, 1.2%
Southend, £887, 0.9%
Newcastle, £584, 0.2%
Coventry, £807, minus 0.1%
Middlesbrough, £463, minus 1.1%
Aberdeen, £597, minus 2.9%