Yorkshire has experienced the largest property price jump outside the South East of England over the last year, according to new data released today.
Research from property website Rightmove indicates that the average cost of a home in the county is now £174,000, an increase of almost £6,000 on the same period last year. Rightmove suggests that the lengthening imbalance between supply and demand is forcing average prices up.[1]
Post-election surprises
Taking England as a whole, the number of properties listed for sale was down 8.5% on the same period last year, with last month also seeing a 3.9% fall in supply of new homes. This has surprised a number of experts, who felt that supply would surge following the outcome of the election.[1]
Miles Shipside, director of Rightmove, described the fall in supply as, ‘unanticipated.’ He went on to say, ‘agents report that the election surprise has given a boost to market sentiment, driven by more certainty about future economic and taxation policies.’[1]
‘While would-be buyers have been able to respond quickly to these events, many potential sellers have so far failed to come to market,’ Shipside continued. ‘This has pushed up some of the asking prices of those properties that have been marketed, meaning that buyers are faced with paying a new average record price high for the more limited choice available.’[1]
Shipside describes this as, ‘the price of political certainty.’[1]
Rises
Property prices in Yorkshire have increased substantially, but the average home still costs less than in all other parts of the country, apart from the North East, where prices average at £144,000. Across both England and Wales, the average property on the market is more than twice as costly as those in the North East of England at £294,351.[1]
Shipside feels that the market is set for a surge during the second-half of the year, stating, ‘it all seems set-up for an active second-half housing market in 2015, barring any external shocks to the economy. However, it remains to be seen whether stretched buyer affordability can reach sellers’ post-poll pricing.’[1]
‘The new Government and other stakeholders now need to urgently deliver more new-build homes, to stop asking prices being pushed further up.’[1]
[1] http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/business/business-news/house-prices-grow-faster-in-yorkshire-than-anywhere-else-1-7308747