Latest news on house prices in Yorkshire towns and cities

Analysis of the latest Land Registry data shows that Wakefield and York had the highest house price increases in Yorkshire. Values rose by 6.7 per cent in Wakefield between April 2018 and April 2019, which is well over double the Yorkshire average rise. The average house price in the area is £150,638. In a recent Property Post focus on Wakefield, estate agent Claire Kendall, head of the sales department at Richard Kendall, confirmed that buyer confidence is high: “We are busier this year than we were last year. The market is very active with everyone from first-time buyers to families and people looking for high end homes. We also have plenty of investors who are cash buyers. “Brexit hasn’t touched us and that’s because people here are saying ‘let’s just crack on’. They aren’t putting their lives on hold.” Prices in York increased by 5.8 per cent to an average £257,913 and highlight the continuing appeal of the medieval city. The average year-on-year price increase in Yorkshire was 2.5 per cent with prices showing a 0.3 per cent growth between March and April this year. This is higher than the UK average annual rise, which was 1.4 per cent with a monthly increase of 0.7 per cent. This brings the average UK property value to £228,903. The North East recorded the greatest monthly price growth in April with prices up by five per cent. The West Midlands saw the most significant monthly price fall with values down by 0.2 per cent. Annual house price growth was strongest in Wales where prices increased by 6.7 per cent in the year to April 2019. In England, the East Midlands had the greatest year-on-year rise, up by 2.9 per cent. London saw the largest annual price fall, down by 1.2 per cent. The North East region has the lowest house prices in England with the average value standing at £130,888. Yorkshire is in second place with an average house price of £161,443, just marginally lower than the £161,891 recorded in the North West. The most expensive places to buy a home are London, where the average home costs £471,504, and the South East where average values are £318,727. There were a number of falls recorded in Yorkshire, including in the Harrogate district where prices fell by 5.8 per cent. This local authority area includes Ripon and Pateley Bridge. They also dropped by 0.6 per cent in North Yorkshire, 0.9 per cent in Scarborough and 0.1 per cent in Selby. Despite a price fall, the Harrogate district remains popular with buyers and is the most expensive place to live in Yorkshire. The average home costs £271,018. The cheapest place is Hull, where the average home is £111,610. Toby Milbank of property finding firm The Search Partnership is surprised at the fall in prices in the Harrogate district, which includes the sought-after spa town. Search Partnership analysis recently revealed that homes in Harrogate have seen a nine per cent rise over the past year. “Sometimes the Land Registry average price is depressed by sales of lower priced new-build developments and of holiday home parks, where each £60,000 property is recorded separately,” says Toby. “Certainly in Harrogate itself, prices seem very healthy.” In April 2019, the most expensive area to live in was Kensington and Chelsea, where the cost of an average house was £1.288,685. The cheapest area to purchase a property was Burnley, where an average house costs £84,206. The latest figures on the average price of new-build homes versus existing stock are from February this year and show that the value of newly-built property saw a -0.2 per cent year-on-year fall while second-hand homes saw a 1.4 per cent rise. The number of first-time buyers increased by one per cent between April 2018 and April 2019 and the average price they paid was £192, 559. The Bank of England’s May 2019 inflation report notes that activity in the housing market has remained slow, with Brexit-related uncertainty, affordability constraints and policy changes made to the buy-to-let market reducing demand. Here are the Land Registry house prices rises and falls in Yorkshire over the year from April 2018 to April 2019, along with the average house price: Barnsley 2.8 per cent (£133,176); Bradford 1.8 per cent (£133,176) ; Calderdale 4 per cent (£144,984); Hull 3.2 per cent (111, 610); Craven 3.7 per cent (£208,084); Doncaster 3.9 per cent (£128,236); East Riding 3.4 per cent (£179,194); Hambleton 4.8 per cent (£237,336); Harrogate -5.8 per cent (£271,018); Kirklees 2.9 per cent (£148,934); Leeds 1.3 per cent (£179,898); North Yorkshire -0.6 per cent (£215,205); Richmondshire 0.6 per cent (£208,266); Rotherham 0.6 per cent (£132,822); Ryedale 2.2 per cent (£232,697); Scarborough -0.9 per cent (£161,774); Selby -0.1 per cent (£193,636) per cent; Sheffield 3.3 per cent (£193,636); Wakefield 6.7 per cent (£150,,638); York 5.8 per cent (£257,913).