House prices were highest in Monmouthshire

Research by the Chartered Institute of Housing Cymru has found the gap between wages and property prices is widening, making it hard for first-time buyers.

Younger working households earn �27,039 on average a year, the study found.

However, the average price for two and three-bed houses is almost four times that at �107,864.

The problem is most severe in rural areas such as Ceredigion, Gwynedd, Pembrokeshire, Powys and Monmouthshire, where house prices are around five times more than average incomes.

Young households are being forced out of the property market across the country Keith Edwards, CIH Cymru director

The ratio is at its lowest in the south Wales valleys.

In Merthyr Tydfil, where the average household income is �29,259, average homes sell for �65,251.

And in Blaenau Gwent, �25,213 is earned by the average household, while typical homes sell for �66,939.

Jamie Holder, 18, who is renting in Monmouthshire with her boyfriend, said they were looking for a house to buy in Chepstow.

"It is too much money at the moment - even the small places in Chepstow are around �150,000 and we can't afford that," she said.

"I work in Chepstow and if I moved away it would mean leaving my job and I can't do that.

"I think we are never going to get on the property ladder."

Keith Edwards, director of Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH) Cymru said the figures confirmed the problems facing younger people.

"Young households are being forced out of the property market across the country," he said.

"It is particularly bad in areas where wages and salaries are low yet demand for homes is high."

Ferndale's potential

The CIH figures were calculated for working households aged 20-39 in 2004.

They show the areas with the highest house prices were Monmouthshire (�147,084), Cardiff (�142,773) and the Vale of Glamorgan (�138,019).

Earlier this week, researchers for a Royal Bank of Scotland survey picked out the valleys town of Ferndale as having the best potential for first-time buyers in Wales.

It said it had a strong growth in house prices, ongoing regeneration, good transport links and a young population.