Member Article

Sheffield estate agent's best month for six years

The Yorkshire property landscape is set for a period of strong recovery according to Sheffield’s oldest independent estate agency, Eadon, Lockwood and Riddle (ELR), which logged a 44% increase in those looking to sell their homes in order to move up the property ladder in the last month. It has been the company’s best month since September 2007

The company’s latest performance data chimes with results from the recent Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors’ (RICS) report, which found surveyors expect home sales to rise over the coming three months, with 45% more respondents predicting sales will increase - up from 36% in May. This is the most positive reading since RICS began its survey series, in April 1999.

ELR attributes its business bloom to increasing property prices, the success of market stimulus initiatives and a steady growth in demand from prospective buyers since February this year.

Nick Riddle, chartered surveyor and auctioneer at ELR, said: “Activity at estate agents is always a good barometer of market confidence and the past 12 months has been a very busy period for us. What we have seen recently is that as prices across Yorkshire have risen, potential sellers have warmed to the idea of moving up the property ladder, which has stimulated momentum and added to the stock available for buyers.

“Of course, activity levels remain depressed by historic standards but the various initiatives designed to encourage business and the finance injection into the market do appear to be working now. We are starting to see buyers getting easier access to finance and mortgages from lenders and when you add up these positive steps it becomes much easier for people to overcome the hurdles that have stopped them from moving in recent times.”

Established in 1840, ELR has seen significant recent growth following the appointment of new directors, leading to its expansion into North Derbyshire with a new Bakewell office.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by David Gatehouse .