Property boom in Yorkshire shows no sign of slowing down, says Leeds' Manning Stainton

Manning Stainton, has released its second quarterly house price index (HPI), which shows the region’s housing market has continued to perform strongly.

This is despite the tapering of the stamp duty this, lowering the threshold to £250,000.

In Q2 of 2021 (April-June), house prices across the region soared by 9.2 per cent compared to the previous quarter.

This is up 14.5 per cent on the same period last year.

The estate agent’s average sale price now stands at £260,339, up from £233,727 in Q1,.

The number of completed sales transactions also increased by 2.5 per cent over the three-month period.

First-time-buyer activity also remains high, up a whopping 46 per cent across the first half of 2021 compared to the same period in 2020.

Manning Stainton, which has offices across Leeds, also found that shortage of supply is still an issue across the region.

However, the number of properties listed did increase slightly in Q2, up 1 per cent compared to Q1.

Speaking about the data, Mark Manning, managing director of Manning Stainton, said: “House prices across the region have continued to grow at record levels over the past quarter, driven by a shortage of supply and huge demand driven by the rush to buy ahead of the stamp duty holiday ending.

“Family homes with three or more bedrooms were the most in-demand property type across the period, and good-quality properties of this type received record numbers of viewings and offers.

“In Q3, I think we’ll see house price growth level off slightly, particularly across the £500,000 plus segment of the market now that stamp duty is back.

"However, we’re still receiving an extremely high number of new buyer registrations, so interest is still high and the market will continue to perform strongly.”

A temporary stamp duty holiday, introduced last year, increased the threshold to £500,000.

The break has now been tapered to £250,000, saw lots of people rush to buy a house.

New research from Aviva found that Yorkshire house-buyers most commonly spent just 21-30 minutes viewing a home before making an offer, partly because properties were selling so quickly.

The insurer interviewed 2,200 UK homeowners, including around 200 who had purchased homes in Yorkshire.

The study found that 68 per cent of home-buyers in Yorkshire felt under pressure to buy quickly when purchasing their latest property.

Three in 10 Yorkshire residents felt one viewing was sufficient, although on the whole, people usually viewed their property twice before putting in an offer.

Those who bought quickly in Yorkshire, did so for a number of reasons. Most commonly, people really wanted a particular property (34 per cent).

Others stated they didn’t want to miss out because properties were selling so quickly (19 per cent).

The same number said they had lost out on other properties because they hadn’t made an offer quickly enough (19 per cent).

Owen Morris, MD, Personal Lines, Aviva says: “The housing market is moving at an incredible pace, with multiple buyers for many properties in Yorkshire. This is inevitably influencing how much people are paying for their homes and how quickly they are making decisions.

“But our research reveals many people are finding problems with their properties only when it’s too late. These range from more minor irritations, such as the need to decorate, to more worrying problems such as crumbling brickwork or a risk of flooding.

“It can be easy to fall in love with a home on first viewing, but we’d urge people to do their homework and proceed with caution when making one of the biggest financial decisions of their lives.”

The Manning Stainton Quarterly House Price Index is designed to provide buyers and sellers with a detailed overview of how the region’s housing market is performing.

It is based on the estate agent’s sales data from across Leeds, Wakefield and Wetherby, and will be released every three months.