Partner Article

North East property market stalls

The North East property market has failed to improve during March, despite improved conditions in other parts of the country due to the stamp duty holiday.

According to the latest RICS UK Housing Market Survey, 26% of surveyors witnessed a decrease rather than an increase in demand. Despite this however the North East property received a boost, with a net balance of 27% more respondents reporting rises in new instructions.

Proces continued to fall across the North East, and 15% more surveyors reported falls rather than rises in prices. This is anticipated to continue, with 35% of surveyors in the North East expecting prices to fall rather than rise over the next quarter.

Regional differences were also evident in the survey, which showed that the North East, East Anglia and Scotland had suffered the biggest price drops, in comparison to other parts of the country which have seen a steady increase.

Paul McSkimmings, RICS spokesperson of Edward Watson Associates in Newcastle, said: “Overall market confidence is still fragile, with many potential buyers deciding not to move at all, as they remain concerned over uncertainty regarding their long term employment prospects.

“However, investors are still active and are buying traditional first time buyer properties.”

It is now anticipated that transactions will continue to fall over the next quarter in the North East, with -1% more surveyors expecting to witness a decrease in sales.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .