House prices set to rise in 2020

The housing market in Yorkshire has seen a pre-Christmas boost which could carry over into the new year, as people waited until after the election to start buying or selling a home.

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Patrick McCutcheon, the head of residential sales at Dacre, Son & Hartley, predicted a rise of between 2.5 and five per cent across the region in the coming year.

“I think we’re on the threshold of a more positive market next year, now that the political uncertainty is removed from the table.

“There has been a definite upturn in activity following the election. You would normally expect the market to slow in the pre-Christmas period but it has picked up, which could be a sign that next year will be positive.”

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Research has shown house prices in the UK’s cities have risen 54 per cent in the last decade.

Commenting on the research by housing website Zoopla, Richard Donnell, research and insight director, said: “Lower mortgage rates have already been reflected in higher house prices, which means house prices are set to rise at a lower rate in future – more in line with average earnings.”

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According to the National Housing Federation, the average house price in Yorkshire and the Humber was £187,828 in 2018, compared with £300,560 across England. In Yorkshire, the average salary was £25,818, though experts say it takes a wage of £42,932 to get an 80 per cent mortgage in the region, on average.

Yorkshire has historically been resilient to large house price fluctuations and research by KPMG earlier this year found it was the region that was expected to be least negatively affected by Brexit.