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North Shields named 2014’s North East property hotspot

• ­­­­­­­2014 house prices in town rise by region’s fastest rate of 6.8%
• Newcastle, South Shields, Whitburn and Tynemouth see North East’s biggest annual increases – slowest rises in Easington, Blyth, Darlington and Peterlee, and prices fall in Seaham.
• Property prices in the region rose by 2.6% this year – but would have risen by 5.3% if they year had ended in September.
• North East house prices fell 2.2% in December – the fastest fall this year –and are down 2.7% over the past three months.

North Shields has been named the North East property hotspot of 2014.

Analysis from sales and lettings business KIS shows that house prices in the town rose by the fastest rate in the region over the course of 2014, up 6.8%.

A typical house in the town now costs £170,709, up from £159,247 at the start of the year - rise of £11,462.

2014’s Top Five North East House Price Hotspots are as follows:

North Shields – 6.8% Newcastle upon Tyne – 5.7% South Shields – 4.7% Whitburn – 4.6% Tynemouth – 4.3%

The Bottom Five are as follows:

Seaham - -4.9% Easington – 0.4% Blyth - 0.5% Darlington – 0.6% Peterlee – 1.1%

North East house prices rose 2.6% in 2014 – but this rise would have been 5.3% had the year ended in September. house prices across the region fell by 2.2% in December, the fastest fall this year.

17 of the 20 areas surveyed by KIS’ monthly Housing Now report saw prices fall over the past four months, with only Tynemouth (1.5%) and Durham City and Blyth (1%) seeing prices go up.

Cramlington saw the region’s biggest fall, with prices down 4.5% month-on-month. Significant slumps were also recorded in Jarrow (-3.5%) Easington (-3.1%) and Whitley Bay and Peterlee (-2.8%).

Property expert Ajay Jagota, founder and Chief Executive Officer of the North East’s most innovative sales and lettings business KIS responded to the figures.

The firm is famous for being the first letting agent in the UK to abolish deposits, replacing them with a one-of-a-kind landlord insurance policy offering guaranteed rent, deposit replacement, legal assistance and round the clock third party emergency home repairs.

Ajay said:

“2014 was the year the North East property market at last came out of the doldrums, with prices finally returning to 2008 levels – and nowhere was the picture more positive than on the north and south sides of the Tyne.

“What is less positive is how sharply things have slipped back over the past three months. If the year had ended in September, the North East’s average annual house price growth would have been double what it is now.

“The government’s Help to Buy scheme was undoubtedly a huge factor in getting things moving again, but I warned at the time that reforms making it harder for people to secure mortgages – reforms completely unnecessary in the North East – risked slamming the brakes back on.

“The big question at the start of 2015 is whether the current slowdown is just the result of property’s traditional quiet December, or whether those warnings are coming true.

“Recent schemes launched by the chancellor like discounts on new homes and cuts to stamp duty will hopefully pave the way for more growth particularly with new developments and contribute towards a more positive outlook for the housing market in 2015.”

KIS is famous for being the first letting agent in the UK to abolish deposits, replacing them with a one-of-a-kind landlord insurance policy offering guaranteed rent, deposit replacement, legal assistance and round the clock third party emergency home repairs.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ajay Jagota .