Newport named fastest moving market as available properties up for sale drop by a third
Time to secure a buyer in the Welsh city drops from 76 to 52 days over the past year
- Upcoming scrapping of Severn Bridge tolls and priced-out buyers from Bristol have led to a surge in buyers flocking to the Welsh city of Newport with agents reporting lengthy buyer waiting lists
- The demand has led to a 37% year-on-year drop in available properties for sale in Newport and a £12,000 rise in asking prices, making it the fastest moving market in Great Britain compared to a year ago
- The rest of the top ten is dominated by towns in the North West in Greater Manchester and Merseyside
- Across Great Britain total available properties for sale is up 2% on the same time last year, while the average time to secure a buyer is one day quicker than this time last year, at 66 days
Analysis by property website Rightmove has found Newport in South Wales is the fastest moving market in Great Britain compared to a year ago, leading to a property shortage and long waiting lists in the city.
Last year’s announcement that tolls on the Severn Bridges will be scrapped by the end of 2018, plus interest from buyers in much more expensive areas like Bristol where the average asking price is over £300,000, have led to activity in the city’s housing market and surrounding areas surge over the past year.
The increase in demand has led to the number of available properties for sale dropping by more than a third (37%) and asking prices rising by over £12,000 to £175,944. The time it takes to secure a buyer has dropped from 76 days to just 52 days over the past year, a 32% drop.
Rightmove’s Housing Market Analyst Miles Shipside comments: “The average asking price of a property in Newport is almost half that of Bristol so you can see why buyers are making the move into Wales, especially as they know the tolls on the bridges will be scrapped at the end of the year. However, the demand is clearly taking its toll on the number of properties agents have available to offer buyers on Rightmove, making it very much a sellers’ market in Newport right now.”
Mark Roberts, Director of Roberts Estate Agents in Newport, says: “We’re seeing all sorts of buyers looking for properties in Newport, from first-time buyers and investors from Bristol to locals taking the chance to sell up and buy a bigger home. We’re selling houses every single day at the minute, often within hours, as soon as a property goes live on Rightmove the phone starts ringing straight away. Buyers from Bristol are being able to sell a small terraced house and move to Newport to a four bed detached house for the same price, so I can see this level of activity and the stock shortages continuing for at least another twelve months.”
Paul Cleverly, Managing Director of Pinkmove Estate Agents in Newport, says: “A wave of first-time buyers has been stoking the flames of the Newport market for over a year now, and it’s coming from both sides of the city. From the East are buyers from Bristol, and from the West are buyers from Cardiff. Another reason for the demand is the excellent transport links with easy access to the M4 motorway and the soon to be electrified high-speed train line to London. Finally, excellent public schooling seals the deal for many parent looking for affordable homes. The issue we have is that properties are selling so quickly so even though the number of overall new sellers coming to market hasn’t dropped dramatically, the demand that we’re seeing means that the number of available properties has been dwindling.”
Nathan James Reeks, Owner of Nathan James Estate Agents in Caldicot and Magor just beside The Severn Bridges, says: “We sold nine houses in the past week as the market is about four times stronger than it was this time last year, after it was announced that the tolls will be scrapped. In fact, we sold one recently within just a few hours, which sold for over £100,000 more than it sold for only 18 months ago. The result of this is a huge stock shortage, which is making it tough for both local first-time buyers trying to get on the ladder, and for those coming from places like Bristol. I’d say that within the next 6-9 months you won’t be able to get a property for under £250,000 within a 10 mile radius of the bridges.”
The second fastest moving market is Oldham in Manchester where the number of available properties has dropped by 35%, and the number of days to secure a buyer has dropped from 101 days to 76. Two other places in Greater Manchester also make the top ten, Rochdale and Leigh.
Richard Powell, Director of Ryder & Dutton in Oldham, Manchester, Lancashire & West Yorkshire, says: “Local markets like Oldham and Rochdale attract a number of different types of buyers covering all price ranges, and most buyers are local. The lack of new properties coming to market, together with more interest from first-time buyers, has led to prices rising more quickly than in the previous few years, and the time to secure a buyer reducing. We’re now seeing price levels higher than 2007 which has generated more confidence in the market. However, because potential sellers cannot see properties they want to buy they are still very reluctant to list their own houses, leading to demand outstripping supply in these areas. The total number of transactions is being limited by the number of properties available rather than the desire to purchase, so we expect prices to rise further over the next few months.”
Rightmove’s Housing Market Analyst Miles Shipside advises: “A number of areas in the top ten have had asking price rises of four per cent or more over the past year, so homeowners who may be considering coming to market in these areas or those nearby could find that now is the time to make the most of the increased activity. At a national level, the number of available properties for sale is higher than this time last year, albeit by a modest 2%, meaning there are still many places where new supply just can’t keep up with the demand.”
The top ten fastest moving markets
| Area | % change in
available properties |
Current asking price | % asking price increase 2017-2018 | Number of days to secure a buyer
2018 |
Number of days to secure a buyer
2017 |
% change in number of day to secure a buyer |
| Newport, Wales | -37% | £175,944 | 7% | 52 | 76 | -32% |
| Oldham, Greater Manchester | -35% | £136,977 | 5% | 76 | 101 | -24% |
| Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire | -27% | £129,426 | 8% | 63 | 83 | -24% |
| Rochdale, Greater Manchester | -28% | £157,648 | 6% | 81 | 103 | -22% |
| Leigh, Greater Manchester | -26% | £128,809 | 3% | 58 | 71 | -19% |
| Wrexham, Wales | -24% | £157,448 | 3% | 97 | 120 | -19% |
| Southport, Merseyside | -22% | £197,681 | 2% | 79 | 97 | -19% |
| Colwyn Bay, Wales | -14% | £186,217 | 4% | 79 | 107 | -26% |
| Dewsbury, West Yorkshire | -11% | £143,287 | 2% | 74 | 103 | -28% |
| Birkenhead, Merseyside | -11% | £112,472 | 4% | 79 | 108 | -27% |
| National average | +2% | £300,001 | 1.5% | 66 | 67 | -1% |
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