A North East town has been named as one of the top 10 property hotspots in Britain. Prudoe in Northumberland saw average house prices soaring by 11.5 per cent, or £18,029, in the first half of 2014, according to the Zoopla property website. The average home in Prudoe, which sits around 11 miles to the west of Newcastle, now costs at least £175,359.
These figures were in sharp contrast to nearby Ryton, just four miles away in Gateshead, which came second to last in the Zoopla chart, only performing better than Wadebridge in Cornwall. Properties in the town have dropped by 1.9 per cent, meaning that they are now worth an average of £2,897 less than they were at the start of the year. The average property price now stands at £152,224.
Andrew Eldridge, of Prudhoe and Blaydon-based Yellow Estate Agency, said the picture may not be as bleak for Ryton as it might appear. He said three-bedroom semi-detached houses in the £140,000 to £180,000 category had been doing very well in Prudhoe but the average prices had also been boosted by the recent sales of some high-value properties. He said valuers were still optimistic about the future of property prices in Ryton and urged people in the area not to be too concerned if they are planning to sell.
Bradbury & Co estate agent’s director Amy Sixmith added that people dropping asking prices in the Ryton area is likely to have affected the average figure. She said that some sellers believed that they should ask for premium prices to be paid for Ryton property, in part because of its coveted village feel, but buyers know that they can often pay less for similar properties a little further away.
There are currently around 16,000 people living in the semi-rural town of Ryton. By contrast, 12,000 people call Prudhoe home, according to the latest figures. Interestingly, both are served by senior schools currently in special measures, but Prudhoe High School and Charles Thorp Comprehensive are now making progress.
The Zoopla figures revealed that property prices across the North East rose steadily during the first six months of the year, with an average increase of 5.5 per cent, the equivalent of around £9,008. This was better than in the whole of Scotland, Wales, and the West Midlands. In Britain as a whole, homes increased in value by £90 every day in the period until July, proving that the property market really is back on track.
Zoopla’s figures are based on information from website users, estate agents and the government. It uses a formula based on recent sale and asking prices to determine a home’s market value on one particular day. Zoopla spokesman Lawrence Hall said the resurgence of the property market had largely been centred on the South East and London but now the recovery was broadening and the north was starting to feel the ripple effect.