May I first of all take this opportunity to wish all of the readers of this magazine a very prosperous and healthy 2017. Here in the property world, we are looking forward to hopefully steady market conditions throughout the next 12 months. The most important short term decision will be regarding Brexit and whether the House of Commons has to be consulted to trigger Article 50. Hopefully we will know this decision by mid-January and can move on to either a process of consulting all MPs or proceeding with the trigger by the end of March.
The housing market relies heavily on confidence, often established from a general feel-good factor from the economy. The current value of properties throughout the region remains at a very sensible level in comparison to prices 10 years ago and it will be 10 years in September 2017 that we will remember the effects of the banking crisis and the impact of the Northern Rock news.
Over the last 10 years, the economy has slowly regained confidence and we have seen house prices stabilize and, in certain parts of the region, increase in value, particularly those popular residential areas of Jesmond, Gosforth and Newcastle and some coastal hotspots, ie: Bamburgh, Beadnell and Alnmouth. Throughout the whole of the region, prices are a lot more stable now and demand has increased.
My forecast for 2017 welcomes a number of new homes sites and my company will be very busy this year working with a number of regional developers in some prime locations. Late March 2017 sees the launch of our highly acclaimed new development at Smiths Dock in North Shields. Our clients, Places for People and Urban Splash, will create some of the most exciting new styles of living throughout the North East. We are launching 34 townhouses on the plateau in early Spring, followed later in the year by the Smokehouses, which will consist of 80 apartment-style properties close to the waterfront.
We also welcome in 2017 an exclusive development in Jesmond, working alongside our client Arch Developments, who are developing the former Barnardo’s site, off Burdon Terrace, into a beautiful scheme of 11 luxury houses.
We continue to sell the remaining properties available in Hexham at Hexham Gate and in Ponteland at Mill Rise, both of which have been extremely popular, and January sees the opening of the new show apartment at Mill Rise.
Throughout the region we will be able to offer a variety of new exciting developments offering some diverse ranges of homes with beautiful interiors.
The new homes stock is essential, given that so very few new homes have been built in the last 10 years because of lack of confidence in the economy. It is now clear that planning permissions granted by local councils in various areas are expected to be executed quickly and a choice of homes made available and added to current stock levels, thereby increasing people’s choice of where they can live and of what quality and value for money.
Here in Sanderson Young, we will continue to innovate the estate agency market, leading with the investment we have made in new software and refurbishment of some of the offices and their window displays, to ensure that our clients’ properties are displayed to the best possible standards.
Our new social media policy is also opening up a variety of opportunities for our clients’ houses to be seen throughout the region, by all age groups. I hope that my monthly video blog will increase people’s knowledge of what is happening in the housing market so that they can be fully informed.
2016 was a positive year for the company, seeing growth increasing by 12% on the previous year. We would hope in 2017 to increase this once again, based on the increasing numbers of new homes properties available and choices for our buyers.
We very much look forward to helping and working with our clients past, current and future. Please do not hesitate to let me know if I can assist you in any way, by contacting me on my email Duncan.young@sandersonyoung.co.uk
With my very best wishes for an exciting year ahead.
