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John Coleman

Rate cuts could bring confidence boost to Northern housing market

The Bank of England interest rate cut to 4% today will help confidence in the property market but rising prices have yet to be seen in the North of England, according to John Coleman, Head of Agency at GSC Grays, the award winning property agent.

The impact of the fourth rate cut in a year on property prices is expected to stimulate the market, however, signs of price rises remain elusive in many Northern areas.

In London, prices increased by 0.5% in July and now average £539,914 in the latest data from the Halifax with Northern Ireland showing the strongest house price growth with average prices increasing by 9.3pc over the past year.

House prices increased by 4.7% annually in Scotland while property in Wales climbed by 2.7%. The North West and Yorkshire and the Humber recorded price up 4% over the year but this is not replicated across all Northern areas.

John Coleman explained: “Those figures are not reflected in rural North Yorkshire, Northumberland and County Durham. While the interest cut, which was expected, will help confidence in the housing market in the North of England we are yet to see the rise in property prices.

“On the ground in regional areas of the North there is no evidence yet of prices going above the asking price but we are more confident now that interest rates have been cut and another cut is expected later in the year. That is when we expect to see things improve across the whole of the region.

“Our GSC Grays branches across the North of England (Boroughbridge, Richmond and Barnard Castle) report that houses which are realistically priced are achieving sales. There are a healthy number of cash buyers who are ready to proceed but they are looking for sensibly priced options.

“The interest cut will hopefully increase a buyer’s flexibility following the increase of stamp duty tax in April as we have recently seen buyers offsetting these costs within their offers.”

Article by

John Coleman
MRICS
Director

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