Prices set to keep on soaring in SW
08-10-2014
By Plymouth Herald
By TRISTAN NICHOLS Herald Reporter @tristan_nichols
HOUSE prices in Plymouth are already at "record highs" and are likely to climb in the coming years.
According to the latest regional land report from leading property advisers CBRE, the South West's economy is well on the road to recovery and house prices have started rising steadily.
Guy Mansfield, head of national land and development at CBRE Bristol, said the price of homes in the West Country could rise 10 per cent year-on-year to reach their highest regional increase from 2015 to 2019
Darren Lawson, managing director of Mansbridge & Balment estate agents, said house prices in Plymouth are already at figures last seen in 2006 and 2007.
"We are already at a record high in terms of house prices," said Mr Lawson.
"In fairness we have just got back to, and possibly beyond, where we were in 2006 and 2007 when we last saw those record highs. It's taken us nearly 10 years to get back to these figures.
"We have put 50 per cent more properties on our books this year compared to the same period last year.
"There is always a level of demand, and confidence is now back."
Mr Lawson said the average house price in Plymouth experienced by his firm is now £183,000.
"I would concur that the movement in the market has been more upward," he added.
Meanwhile Jennet Siebrits, head of residential research at CBRE, said: "The sharp house price growth we have witnessed over the last year is typical at the start of a recovery, due to the release of pent-up demand.
"London has dominated the housing market in recent years and recorded particularly strong house price growth, but there is now an evident ripple-out effect with increases recorded across all UK regions."
The CBRE report also suggests that house prices would start to level off in a few years.
The Bank of England is expected to announce a "small" increase in interest rates in the autumn. But experts say it will not have too much of an impact on mortgages.
Tim Jones, chairman of the Devon and Cornwall Business Council has warned there is a risk of seeing the housing bubble return.