North East property prices rise by £1,000 in May

North East property values increased by 0.6% during the last month. This added £1,000 to the value of a typical home.

These figures suggest that some sort of calm is returning to property prices in the region, which saw values increase by 3.1% in March, then fall 4% in April.

North East Property

The average property price in the region currently stands at £156,975. This is £996 more than the average price recorded at the end of April and is 1.8% greater than at the same time last year. In cash terms, this rise amounts of £2,525.

Month-on-month, the highest growth was recorded in Whitley Bay. Prices here rose by 3.8%. Other areas with considerable growth include Houghton-le-Spring (2.5%), Sunderland (2.4%) and Gateshead (2.2%).

On the other hand, there were falls in Jarrow (-1.9%), Seaham (-1.4%) and Durham City and North Shields (0.6%).

Rental rising

In terms of rent, prices rose by an average of £12 per calendar month to £578pcm. This represents a rise of 1.6%, with the average cost of a property in the North East increasing by £3 every week.

Rents in the region are now £30 per month greater than in May 2015 and £18 higher than in May 2014.

Presently, Blyth is the cheapest place to rent in the North East, with monthly rents averaging at £403.

Peterlee is the regions buy-to-let capital, offering rental yields of 6.1%. Other good performers include Gateshead with yields of 5.4%, Sunderland with 5.3% and Newcastle with 5.1%.

Sliding property prices and increasing rents have led yields in the North East to rise by just 0.1% to 4.4%.

North East property prices rise by £1,000 in May

Settling down

Ajay Jagota, founder of North East based sales and lettings firm KIS, said: ‘after a lively few months which saw North East house prices change positively or negatively by at least 3% in January, March and April it’s predictable and perhaps even a little welcome that prices have settled down over the last four weeks. Real growth in the North East property market is currently in rents, which after at least two years of stagnation have risen from an average of £552 a month in March to £578 today.’[1]

‘This could suggest falling stocks of rented homes, which would support the claims that tax changes are forcing landlords to leave the market. This doesn’t just have a negative impact on the people who will have to find almost £1000 in deposits to move into a new rental home, it could have a profound impact on the region’s economic future,’ Jagota continued.[1]

[1] http://www.propertyreporter.co.uk/property/north-east-house-prices-rise-1000-in-may.html