Shropshire’s house prices remained relatively stable last month as the county recovered from a string of interest rate rises which triggered three consecutive months of decline.The majority of estate agents reported very little change in local property values during February, according to the latest survey from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.
Fifty-five per cent of Shropshire estate agents reported static prices during the month, compared with just 22 per cent who saw a fall. The rest claimed values had started to slowly rise.
They were cautiously optimistic for the coming months. Oswestry estate agent Jeremy Dell, the county’s RICS spokesperson, said: “The Shropshire housing market has been ticking over at a steady pace during February, with a respectable pick up in activity as we headed into March.
“Buyers are being cautious as the cost of borrowing increases following the recent base rate rises, but good quality properties are selling and often achieve their asking price.”
He added: “With the number of available properties remaining low, prices should continue to hold up well as we head toward a potentially busier springtime.”
Mr Dell said the Shropshire picture mirrored the national trend, where house price rises slowed to the slowest pace since last May as interest rate hikes have worsened buyer affordability.
But the county appears to be bucking the UK picture in terms of buyer inquiries, which are holding up well while footfall in many other parts of the country is declining. In some parts of Britain, one in five estate agents is reporting a fall in inquiries.
And nationally, new instructions to sell property have gone nine months without a rise - the longest stretch in seven years - although in Shropshire, a small increase was reported after a bad start to the year.
Harvey Williams of the RICS said the West Midlands market was cooling slightly on the back of higher interest rates. And he added: “Affordability remains a major issue for first time buyers.
“We are finding that first time buyers are becoming more imaginative about looking for ways around the problem of affordability. For example, we are seeing more shared ownership schemes in this region.”
By Carl Jones
One Comment
Rural house prices are just “doing a wiley coyote” haveing run off the cliff of income support.
Only one way to go next, no amount of estate agents waving their arms will help!
Just don’t get pressured into over paying on the way down. “imaginative funding” - just another way of saying “over paid”.
Wait for the little puff of dust at the bottom in a year or so.