Property market has a spring in its step
The property market in Yorkshire is waking up for a new season and the mood is definitely more positive for prices and for home sales, but don’t push your luck. Sharon Dale reports.
THE latest report from property portal Zoopla shows that housing market activity has improved in the first quarter of 2024, including in sales activity, house price growth and the supply of homes for sale, which is a fifth higher than last year.
Zoopla’s house price index shows new sales agreed are nine per cent higher than a year ago, with seven per cent more sales agreed compared with the first quarter of 2023.
This trend is encouraging more sellers to list their homes for sale and there are now 20 per cent more homes for sale compared to this time last year.
Rates now at 4.4 per cent for a 75 per cent loan to value mortgage on a five-year fix rate deal have helped as they are down by over one per cent from a high of 5.8 per cent in June last year.
The strongest growth in sales activity continues to be in areas with more affordable house prices and this applies to Yorkshire, where sales are up 11 per cent and where the average house price is £185,600. The North West saw a 13 per cent lift in sales.
The strongest growth in new sellers listing homes is in the South West, up 28 per cent, and the affordable North East, up 26 per cent.
Further evidence of improving market conditions is the narrowing in the discount between the asking price and the agreed purchase price, which is now in line with the pre-pandemic average.
Richard Donnell, executive director at Zoopla, says: “Rising wages and falling mortgage rates have boosted consumer confidence and this is feeding into improving levels of housing market activity over the first quarter of 2024.
“We don’t believe that house prices are about to increase more quickly but there is more buyer interest.”
The Nationwide building society posted its figures for the first quarter of the year, January to March 2024, and they show that average UK house prices are up 1.6 per cent compared with a year ago.
Northern Ireland was the best performing region with prices up 4.6 per cent and the South West weakest performing, with prices down 1.7 per cent year-on-year.
Yorkshire saw house price growth of 2.4 per cent year on year taking the average house price to £200,958.
Meanwhile, the South West, Outer South East, Outer Metropolitan London and East Anglia saw a 0.3 per cent year-on-year fall in values.
Price growth in London is recovering and up 1.6 per cent. The South West was the weakest performing region, with prices down 1.7 per cent year-on-year.
Robert Gardiner, Nationwide’s chief economist, says: “With costof-living pressures easing as inflation moves back towards target, consumer sentiment is improving. Surveyors report a pick-up in new buyer enquiries and new instructions to sell in recent months.
“Moreover, with income growth continuing to outpace house price growth by a healthy margin, housing affordability is improving, albeit gradually.
“If these trends are maintained, activity is likely to gain momentum, though the pace of the recovery is likely to be heavily influenced by the trajectory of interest rates.”
Simon Blyth, of the Simon Blyth group of estate agencies, which covers West and South Yorkshire, says:
“The market is steadily positive in Yorkshire at the moment. There is a lot more stability out there and there is also the prospect of lower interest rates.
“It’s been a long, wet winter but now spring is here, we will see more people in the property marketplace.
“All is good, we are very busy and it feels like the market is back to normal.”
Edward Hartshorne, MD of Blenkin
and Co, says: “This is a period of record back-to-back valuations and new properties being launched almost daily. The general picture is of a modest but now growing number of buyers coming forward with bids.
“The opportunists who first made their appearance in 2023 are still putting forward low offers but they are no longer successful as the best on the market is now attracting more than enough interest to secure a good and, sometimes a very good, sale price.
“We have several properties that are standing out in terms of performance.
“All are superb period properties in need of considerable work that have been priced at a level designed to attract serious interest.
“Last weekend we had an average of 20 viewings booked for three very different properties and every party is proceedable or a cash buyer.
“We are expecting all to receive numerous bids. Another property nudging £m and with stand-out panoramic coastal views has elicited this response from a viewer: ‘We need to have this property. What figure will take this off the market?’.”