Holiday home sales down in hotspot counties of North Wales
The issue of second homes is felt most keenly in areas of Eryri and Pembrokeshire national parks, Gwynedd and Anglesey - with almost half the properties in places like Aberdyfi now second homes.
It has seen a concerted effort to mitigate that trend in a bid to free up more homes for local people. Measures includes significant council tax premiums on second homes as well as stricter criteria for a property to be classed as a holiday let, which are exempt from council tax.
Cyngor Gwynedd has also introduced a new Article 4 rule that requires planning permission for a residential property to change its use.
While the measures have been welcomed by many, the tourism industry has warned of the impact on their sector and the Tories have said the focus should be on building new houses.
Recent data is indicating that the measures are reducing the number of sales to second home and holiday let buyers.
In January to March 2025, residential transactions across Wales were up 23% from the same quarter a year earlier - a total of 11,980.
During the same period there was a lower 8% hike in higher rate residential sales to 2,630. Higher rate transactions include buy to let landlords, second home, holiday homes or holiday lets, as well as bridging (buying a new property while trying to sell an existing one).
For areas like Anglesey, Gwynedd and Eryri these tend to be second home and holiday let sales. Sign up for the North Wales Live newsletter sent twice daily to your inbox
By local authority, higher rates transactions as a percentage of all residential transactions (2024-25) varied from 13% in Monmouthshire to 31% in Merthyr Tydfil.
In past years Gwynedd has often had the highest proportion of these sales with it around 37% to 39% - nearly four in every 10 homes sold.
But over 2024-25 the rate has seen a notable decrease to 27% - this is down from 31% the previous year.
When it comes to Eryri National Park it is down from 35% in 2023-24 to 28% over the past year and for Pembrokeshire Coast the rate has gone from 48% to 39%,
Meanwhile Anglesey has declined from 34% in 2023-24 to 27% in 2024-25 - the biggest annual fall in the proportion of higher rate transactions of any county.
The WRA said: 'In the past several years, there have generally been falls in these percentages in northern and western areas of Wales.
'The percentages for Gwynedd were fairly stable from 2018-19 to 2021-22 (around 37% to 39%). There was a marked fall the next year followed by a period of stability, before another notable decrease to 27% in 2024-25.
'The percentages for Anglesey declined from 36% in 2019-20 to 29% in 2022-23. While there was a notable increase to 34% the next year, there followed a larger fall to 27% in 2024-25.'
They added: 'There are multiple factors influencing the large fall for Anglesey in the latest period (compared with a year earlier). One reason is the number of transactions in Anglesey is relatively low compared with nearby areas, therefore the percentages are generally more volatile from year to year. Much of this fall can also be explained by a relatively large increase in residential transactions at the main rates while higher rates transactions actually fell in the same period.
'Early data we hold on the intent behind higher rates transactions indicates the fall in higher rates transactions for Anglesey is mainly influenced by trends in purchases of second homes, holiday homes and holiday lets, and to a lesser degree, by purchases of buy to let properties.'
Adam Al-Nuaimi, Head of Data Analysis in the WRA, said: 'The percentages of residential transactions at the higher rate are changing for several reasons, depending on the local authority.
'In some areas, the drop has been considerable and is partly due to fewer second home purchases. Other factors are also involved such as changes in purchase of buy-to-let properties and increases in main rates transactions exceeding those for higher rates.
'Nationally, in January to March quarterly residential revenues were higher than the same time last year, but not as high as three years earlier. There are several reasons for the latest rise. There were increases in residential transactions and average property values over that time, and tax rates for higher rates transactions increased from December 2024.'
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