Only way is up...

The Sunday Sentinel newspaper, 4th January 2004 (page 5)

"Property experts today predicted that house prices in North Staffordshire will rise by up to 20 percent this year. ... Local estate agents believe the boom in the North Staffordshire housing market shows no sign of slowing."

"...terraces are likely to go beyond their current level in the next year, to anything from 10 to 20 percent" [say Paul Keates of Keates and Sons.]"   "Old Victorian terraces are the most popular." [says estate agent Alan Dale].

Hot Spot: Stoke-on-Trent

The Independent newspaper, 10th December 2003.

THE 'five towns' of Stoke continue to thrive as a centre of creativity �- and house prices are temptingly low, says Robert Liebman.

...

... says Hannah Gaskin of Reeds Rains, "you can't get a terrace for gold dust. When one comes onto the market, it is snapped up."

Property prices boom in shunned regions.

The Sunday Times, 30th December 2001.

PREVIOUSLY unfashionable cities such as Stoke-on-Trent and Newcastle-upon-Tyne and unsmart counties such as Cornwall and Essex have become Britain's hottest property spots during 2001, according to the year's first comprehensive housing study by the Nationwide building society.

Property prices in these areas have boomed in the second half of the year, adding thousands to the value of a family home, while prices in much of the southeast of England have fallen in the same period.

...

John Wriglesworth, an economist at Hometrack, said: "During the first half of the year it was the usual story with prices in London and along the M4 corridor booming. But it all changed in the summer as people woke up to the fact that there were some excellent bargains to be had in areas that were previously avoided."

Some beneficiaries have been the homeowners and estate agents in Stoke-on-Trent, where prices rose most quickly in the second half of 2001. The former industrial city, home to potteries such as Wedgwood and Royal Doulton, is characterised by rows of terraced housing.

But since July the average home in Stoke-on-Trent has risen in value by 5.8 percent, more than three times the average rate of increase there during the past decade. Local home buyers speak of gazumping and fierce bidding for prime properties as outsiders commuting to Manchester and Birmingham snap up homes in the area.

"Whether it is a terraced house or a large detached home, demand is significantly outstripping supply in the suburbs of Stoke," said Paul Keates, of Keates & Son estate agents. "We have sold homes before they have gone on the market and we have had a problem with gazumping."

The Nationwide Winter 2001/2 Market Review suggests the trend will continue, "Good affordability should underpin the North, Wales and Midlands, despite continued problems in manufacturing, and price growth will remain resilient during the modest economic slowdown." The trend will also be aided by record low levels of new house building, and more one-person households.

Humble street home leads housing boom

The Sunday Sentinel, 4th August 2002. Quotes...

"The powerful appeal of the terrace home - after years of being thought undesirable, particularly in Stoke-on-Trent and Crewe - has astonished estate agents."

"At Stanley Keates agency in Stoke, a spokeswoman said: 'Terraces are now very popular, and that is making them hard to buy because of the sheer demand for them.'"

Region's house prices quicken

The Birmingham Post, April 4th 2003. Quote...

"Prices for West Midland terraced houses set the pace [in the first quarter of 2003], rising by 35.1 per cent, faster than in any other part of the UK."

Exciting Times On The Terraces.

Sunday Sentinel newspaper. 25th May 2003, page 9.

"...according to Dean Reeves, residential manager of Butters John Bee estate agents in Hanley [Stoke's leading agent and auctioneer], it is first-time buyers who have stimulated the [terrace] housing market rather than external investors."

On the right track.

The Daily Telegraph, 17th March 2001.

"Rail improvements will soon open up rural areas undreamt of by London commuters. Now is the time to buy before prices rise" ... "By 2005, journey times from Manchester to London should fall from 2hrs 35mins to 1hr 50mins, and the luscious countryside around Stafford, Stoke, and Crewe stations will be within commuting range."