Is the boom year over for Bingley?

From the Telegraph & Argus, first published Tuesday 24th Aug 2004.

The house price boom in Bingley could be coming to an end as the rise in interest rates starts to slow the housing market.

The price of property in the town has been the fastest growing in Yorkshire over the past year with prices having risen by 52 per cent.

But a leading Bingley estate agent today said that there had been a "downturn" in the buoyant market.

The boom which erupted after the opening of the Bingley relief road was bad news for first time buyers who were priced out of the market.

Andrew Hodgson, of Dacre, Son and Hartley in Bingley, said there had been a "significant downturn" in the area.

He said people were worried about the future, there was a realisation that prices were not going to stay up for ever and they were concerned about interest rate increases.

But he said properties were still coming onto the market and their stock levels were increasing.

Property website Hometrack also said that house prices fell for the second month running during August across Britain because of rising interest rates. It said during August the number of people looking for new homes also fell by four per cent.

At the same time the level of asking prices fell for the fourth month in a row to 94.9 per cent and homes were taking more than five weeks to sell.

The highest increase in the cost of property was seen in North Yorkshire where prices rose by 0.2 per cent. John Wrigglesworth, Hometrack's housing economist said: "House prices are now very near their peak in terms of affordability and the recent housing boom now appears to be well and truly over."

But he added they did not expect the housing market to crash providing bank base rates remained below five per cent.

The group expects to see house price rises plateau out over the next 12 to 18 months with prices increasing by five per cent during this year but remaining static next year.

Royal Institute of Chartered Housing spokesman Ian Perry said the cooling of the market would provide a good opportunity for first time buyers.

Today London auctioneers Allsop, who deal with Bradford properties, said Yorkshire and Humberside had been the top performing area in Britain for the second quarter of this year with an increase of 10.6 per cent.

The company said the sales market in the North was still in "good heart".

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