Richard Kendall, founder of Richard Kendall Estate Agent, reflects on 2018’s local property market.

January 15, 2019

There is always a lot of talk about the activity in the property market, particularly in the media and this often refers to what is actually happening in the Southern parts of the country as opposed to what is happening further North.

There are always going to be regional variations because of the different economic climates in the various areas of our country, but here at Richard Kendall where we have 6 local offices all based in the WF area it is interesting to note that we too can have variations within a ten mile radius.

If you take the month of August, our Wakefield office enjoyed one of the busiest months of the year, yet only five miles away in Normanton it was one of the quietest. We can also have variations between Castleford and Pontefract in different months of the year and they are literally next door to each other.

However, overall the last 12 months the market has been extremely buoyant in all our office areas. Nowadays there are so many people dipping into selling houses, the competition is more than it has ever been, particularly with high street agents vs online agents. There are also tremendous opportunities for people like ourselves to reach out to the public and offer them the service they deserve. With regard to 2019 a lot will rest with Westminster at what is actually going to happen, not just in housing but also a great deal of other things, Brexit being the most common topic of conversation.

Irrespective of where you live in the UK, none of us can escape this particular debate, but what is very important is that despite their best efforts, the media hasn’t managed to dampen the property market here in the Wakefield and Pontefract areas. On the back of one of our most successful Decembers on record, we have ‘stepped into 2019’ with quite a jump. Viewings, valuations, new properties to the market and even sales are at a level that can only be described as ‘record’!

People will always want somewhere to live whether to rent or buy and we feel extremely confident about the coming months at Richard Kendall Estate Agent.

-Richard Kendall