Housing market report and Barnsley tops the chart for Yorkshire price rises

Home.co.uk analysts say that the vital signs of the housing market are reassuring with lack of stock and mortgage rates, now commonly available at four per cent, shoring it up.Its latest data shows that over the past month, Yorkshire, asking prices are up 0.3 per cent and are 5.3 per cent up on the same time last year bringing the average asking price to £241,340.In the North West there has been a monthly rise of 0.4 per cent and an annual growth of 5.2 per cent leaving the average asking price at £254,877.In the North East the figures are up 1.1 per cent over the month and 4.9 per cent year on year taking the average house asking price to £186,505.Home.co.uk says that stock levels are also recovering but as yet remain below the 10-year average, despite recent additions.

By Sharon Dale

Property and Interiors Editor

Published 21st Feb 2023, 04:00 GMT

The number crunchers add that marketing times are also returning to pre-covid levels, further indicating a return to more normal market conditions.

The current Typical Time on Market for unsold property has increased over recent months to 100 days, but this figure is just 16 days less than in February 2020.

Also helping those wishing to sell at a reasonable price is the UK’s shortage of rental and sales properties, which home.co.uk say has arguably worsened due to supply chain problems and higher financing costs for builders.

The monthly report also reveals that there are signs of the Greater London market looking particularly encouraging after suffering a slump in sales and rentals during the height of the pandemic.

The rental market in the capital has recovered resulting in spiralling rents and the sales market looks set to show growth,given the very modest supply of new instructions, falling stock since November last year and a typical time on market that remains lower than in February 2022.

Home.co.uk add: “Added to that, the median price of a flat remains 15 per cent lower than it was in 2016, there is plenty of room for capital gains.”

Its experts also believe that the latest hike in the Bank of England base rate may well be the last for a while. Meanwhile, mortgage rates have headed in the opposite direction with deals of four per cent becoming plentiful.

The Office for National Statistics this week released its latest data covering December 2022 and it shows that average UK house prices increased by 9.8 per cent in the 12 months to December 2022, down from 10.6 per cent in November 2022.

Average prices rose by an average 10.3 per cent to £315,000 in England. In Wales, they rose by 10.3 per cent to £222,000, in Scotland by 5.7 per cent to £187,000 and Northern Ireland by 10.2 per cent to £175,000.

Broken down by local authority area, here is how Yorkshire house prices performed over the year to December 2022. Barnsley leads with a 16.2 per cent annual rise taking the average house price to £171,268.

Bradford 10.3 per cent, £176,019; Calderdale 11.5 per cent, £189,048; Hull 11.3 per cent, £138,595; Craven 15.2 per cent, £290,835; Doncaster 12 per cent, £168,493; East Riding 9.8 per cent, £229,142; Harrogate 10.8 per cent, £347,934; Kirklees 11 per cent, £195,305; Leeds 15.3 per cent, £247,824; North Yorkshire 11.7 per cent, £287,418; Richmondshire 7.7 per cent, £266,165; Rotherham 13.5 per cent, ££183,176; Ryedale 5.4 per cent, £310,911; Scarborough 12.5 per cent, £220,965; Selby 13.6 per cent, £269,514; Sheffield 15.5 per cent, £225,378; Wakefield 13 per cent, £200,866; York 10.3 per cent, £329,398.