Yorkshire housing market reports and 2023 forecasts

THE results of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors residential property survey for January 2023 show a market where new buyer demand, sales, fresh listings and prices were all on a downward trend.

Expectations are that this picture is likely to remain in place until buyers and sellers adjust to higher interest rates after a period when they were exceptionally low.

The RICS says that all English regions are seeing house prices retreat with the sharpest declines in the East Midlands and the South East.

The rental market is a different story and tenant demand has increased, while the number of homes to let has fallen 14 per cent over the last quarter alone.

Just over two thirds of RICS members now believe that the build to rent sector will play a bigger role in providing homes to let.

That is backed up by a number of large build-to-rent specialists, including Yorkshire’s own awardwinning Moda Living.

They are now taking a concept that began with city centre apartments to the suburbs, where they are building houses for let.

Though the RICS survey showed most respondents believe this will only be partially successful in filling the supply shortfall in the long term

Ending on a more positive note, Simon Rubinsohn, chief economist,

RICS, said: “It is questionable how much downside to pricing there is likely to be given that recent macro forecasts from the Bank of England and others are now envisaging a less harsh economic environment this year.”

RICS member James Brown of the Norman F Brown estate agency in Richmond, is also upbeat and says: “The sales market has shown some life over the past couple of weeks, although buyers are fewer in number and more cagey than during the pandemic years.

“However, the market simply doesn’t stop in such times, vendors just have to be more receptive to advice.”

Robert John Newton-Howes of Yorkshire Surveyors Limited, covering Huddersfield, Halifax and Sheffield, says: “Sold signs are still commonplace in Huddersfield and surrounds but purchasers appear to be negotiating harder on price.”

The Halifax published its price index for January this week and revealed that the average UK house price remained largely unchanged at £281,684, a small decrease on December.

Yorkshire has fared better than most regions on a year-on-year basis with a 4.9 per cent rise in house prices just behind Northern Ireland with 6.9 per cent gain and the

West Midlands with 5.9 per cent increase.

Kim Kinnaird, director, Halifax Mortgages, said that he expected the squeeze on household incomes and higher interest rates to lead to a slower market as we move through 2023, as the higher borrowing costs lead to reduced demand in the market.

He does, however, foresee better days for first-time buyers.

He says: “For those looking to get on or up the housing ladder, confidence may improve beyond the near-term.

“Lower house prices and the potential for interest rates to peak below the level being anticipated last year should lead to an improvement in home buying affordability over time.”