Yorkshire’s top ten property hotspots and coldspots

Yorkshire’s top ten property hotspots and coldspots have been pinpointed by PropCast, the UK’s first house selling weather forecast.

Its software analyses buyer demand using postcodes and reveals that BD1 - central Bradford - appears to be the coldest area while LS3, which includes parts of the Burley, Kirkstall and Woodhouse areas of Leeds, is red hot.

The locations in the top ten hotspots are all sellers markets, while those in the coldest spots are buyers markets, according to PropCast.

The property postcode “temperature gauge” was set up by Gavin Bragz to help homeowners check how easy or difficult it will be to sell their property. His aim is to help vendors set a realistic price using the heat ratings.

These are determined by the number of properties on the market in a postcode and the percentage of these that are under offer or sold subject to contract.

A professional house trader, Gavin buys and sells second-hand, part-exchanged properties on behalf of house builders. His commission relies on selling the exchanged homes quickly.

He believes that PropCast injects realism into the market and can quell over ambitious homeowners and those estate agents who over value to win business.

Few would disagree with LS3 as the number one hotspot. Kirkstall is now seen as up-and-coming thanks to its prime position on the fringe of Leeds city centre and its new railway station.

Three-bedroom terraced houses start from £155,000 and semi-detached homes from £160,000 and prices are rising as young professionals target the area.

“They are regenerating properties there,” says Mark Manning, managing director of Manning Stainton estate agents.

The railway station at Kirkstall Forge offers a 10-minute journey into Leeds central. The old forge site is also adding kudos to the area as it is being transformed into a mixed use community with homes and offices being built by CEG.

Eco home pioneer CITU also plans to build by the canal in Kirkstall.

Leeds and Sheffield dominate the seller hotspot top 10. Leeds has four areas. Along with the number one spot, they include LS4, which is Kirkstall and Burley, and two other desirable areas: LS13, which is Horsforth and Calverley, and LS1 in Leeds city centre.

York only has one place in the top selling list and that is YO24, Acomb, Dringhouses and Holgate.

In Sheffield, estate agents say it is no surprise to see S11, which includes Eccleshall, S8, which is Beauchief, and S10, which includes Ranmoor and Fulwood, taking second, third and fourth places in the hotspot list. They are all highly sought-after areas.

S6, which is Hillsborough, is at number nine and S2, which includes Arbourthorne, Heeley and Park Hill, is the tenth hottest area for sellers in Yorkshire.

Stuart Goff of Hunters estate agents says: “Hillsborough has a major shopping centre, the Supertram into the city centre, a large park, major supermarkets and good facilities.

“There is a range of properties there from terraces starting around £100,000 to semis from £1150,000 and detached homes up to £750,000, plus it’s only two to three miles from the city centre, the universities and all the central hospitals.”

He adds that S2’s main attraction is that it is the closest residential area to the city centre and Hallam University with houses rather than flats.

“Prices are quite low so it’s an ideal area for first-time buyers and student buyers supported by parents,” says Stuart, who is not shocked that city centre Sheffield, S1, is a cold spot for sellers.

“The centre had virtually no housing at all until the boom in new-build apartments started about 20 years ago.

“Popularity is very mixed with complaints about noise pollution and expensive service charges with not a lot of service.

“A high proportion of the flats have been bought by investors, some from abroad, so they don’t have the same pride in a property as an owner/ occupier.

“Many of the apartments were bought at too high a price from the developer making it hard to sell and break even, never mind make a profit. Repossessions often sell for substantially less than the property was bought for.”

While central Bradford tops the coldspot league, nearby Shipley is the third worst place in Yorkshire for sellers.

Other areas in the coldspots top ten include YO18, the Pickering area, at number two.

Edward Hartshorne, MD of Blenkin and Co. estate agents, says: “Some of our most successful property sales within the last six months have had a YO18 postcode, so property postcode computation is too blunt an instrument. It boils down to understanding micro markets and pricing.

“Prudently priced period houses in the best YO18 villages, like Thornton le Dale and the better streets of Pickering, will sell well while over-priced properties in the more problematic streets or less appealing villages will not.”

Edward adds that Acomb, which is a PropCast hotspot, is a rapidly gentrifying suburb of York where demand for family houses is on the rise, though not ubiquitously and not at any price.

Linley and Simpson says Holgate, which has the same postcode, has also heated up.

Gavin Bragz adds: “Those with homes in the cold spots need to be aware that there is an excess of stock on the market, meaning buyers have more properties to choose from and hold the upper hand.”

*PropCast is on TheAdvisory website, www.theadvisory.co.uk. Users input their postcode and PropCast reports on market conditions, shows historic trend data and displays heat maps.