Sunderland & Newcastle - a property market update
Newcastle Upon Tyne and Sunderland both offer exceptional affordability when compared with the South of England, and that’s not to say they’re depressed property markets. Far from it.
Rising house prices
Figures from Rightmove suggest property values are rising in the two cities. In Sunderland, sold prices were 3% up on the previous year, with an overall average price of £141,915. Over in Newcastle city centre, sold prices were up 6% up on the previous 12 months, with an average house price of £191,124. In Newcastle Upon Tyne, however, there was little change in sold prices over the last year, with the overall average price standing at £202,871.
Tenants enjoy stable rents
The latest HomeLet Rental Index (February 2019) revealed the average rental value for new tenancies in the North East is £524 pcm. This is a small increase of 0.8%, when compared to February 2018.
Future prospects = positive property impact
The Newcastle property market has been described as a ‘microcosm of the national housing marketing’, with regeneration schemes and plans for new homes catching the eye of home movers.
The addition of the Angel of the North and the redevelopment of the Baltic Quayside area as an arts hub has undoubtedly raised the city’s profile but now it is the Government’s Northern Powerhouse plan that will continue Newcastle’s revival. One of the major initiatives is a new £200 million entertainment arena, exhibition centre and cultural leisure hub, planned for the Gateshead Millennium Bridge area.
Over in Sunderland, there is an investment to the tune of £100 million in and around the city centre, including High Street West and Minster Quarter, as well as plans for a £5 million National Imagination Centre.
Rail regeneration
Experts and residents, however, feel it’s the Northern Powerhouse Rail project (formerly known as HS3) that will give the North one of its biggest property boosts. The new line is part of Transport for the North’s £70 billion blueprint to overhaul the northern transport infrastructure over the next 30 years. Although the exact route is to be confirmed, Newcastle – and its property market - is set to be a beneficiary. If Crossrail in London is anything to go by – where house prices near planned stations have risen between 30% and 146% in advice of the line’s opening* - property values in Newcastle have the potential to soar.
*Source: Rightmove
