Thursday, June 19th, 2008 No. 6,359 news and views from the Centre of the Kingdom www.clitheroeadvertiser.Co.uk Price 65p crisis? As by Natalie Cox


i ing the national housing cri- •sistrend? ;


IS the Ribble Valley buck- i


' :?While the national: media


• paints a bleak picture of the, cbiintrymde market; one local


■■estate agents says the situation ishot'asbadhere.'-"-


^■ -■ Mortiiriers’:directors Ian


Lloyd and Edward Snowden say although the local housing market is by no means fantas­ tic - it is not as gloomy here as ■ elsewhere.


.,,. Mr Lloyd said: “The nation­ al press is saying that no one is looking to buy, but we disagree. ■ One of bur Mne and Country


■


properties in the Whalley area went on the market two weeks ago for jus t under £800,000


and there have been 14'view­ ings in 12 days. I was staggered by how many viewings we’d had. And we currently have 35 properties under offer through our Ribble Valley offices.” .


■ ■ Despite'the apparent buoy­ ancy in the local iharket, h e . did concedf th a t converting viewings to sales is pro-ying


. more difficult; although with interest rates three times less


Award will help youth group


.than they were 15 years ago, it is not a bad time to buy. - . Added Mr Snowden: “Over


the pa s t 18 months asking ' prices have continued to rise, while selling ' prices have femaihed steady -- people do need to b'e prepared tb negoti- - ate .and be aware th a t they ' ' need to talk in order to achieve a sale.” " ^ •


’ ' ' ' . The pair acknowledged that


the Ribble Valley continues to . be a popular area with pur-


• chasers' because of what it offers in terms of schooling,"-' access to comniuter routes an d : quality of living. As a result / house prices rocketed up 100% ■' between 2000 ahd'2004, in


; some cases rising in excess of that figure.


‘


Said Mr Snowden: “Thbse rates cpuld n o t continue ■


-


because pebple’s salaries have not gone up prbpbrtio'nately. At tha t timie there was also a


• lot of 'careless lending with buyers able tb bbrrow:up to - five times their joint incomes over 50 years raising phenome- ■


i nal sums of-money.” ■ ' He added that house prices:


in th e Valley/had now sta-* bilised as pre'dicted t in 2007 a :


'?AN-“Awards for A ir grant will ' 'enable a Clitheroe youth group' ;;tb provided'range of activities for ybuiig people;'


Mel Diack MBE helped the 'Henthorn 'and District Youth


Group'obiain a xio',000 grant'-’^' mountain biking,^ dance', art ,- for the Lottery fund.'


.andmusic. The money will be used to Mr Diack'is pictured pre- ^


'■'pfovidc'positiye; hcalthy'and '' scntirig the: cheque to the challehgingpufsuiisfs'uch as • -youngpe'ople'.' •’ ■ ' out war’


d/bound 'activities, * •?(B300o08/l) ; -V


fsemi^detache'd property sold, ;for an'average ;df ■£207,843, compared:tb £217,600 for th e , first quarterAf this year; while. the.va'verage/ price/ for a detached property ih 2007 was ^ £404,681', .'r compared to £449,275 for.-the first quarter ' of 2 0 0 8 . - " ■ -......... ........... • ; Said Mr Snowden: “People


What the local estate ; agents have to say


■ • Janet Helme, a director of Purple Willow, agrees


that house prices in the Valley have “steadied”, but, said the biggest fear among buyers is of a further down­ turn in the market: “They are worried about buying at »


; the wrong time and then finding that they have bought | and the property is worth less than they bought i t for. • ! But in this area we do not suffer the great highs br th e ' great lows as demand is always there for the right prop­ erty in the right place due to the local inf s t ru c tu r e - > ' the links to motorways and the good schools - that always draws people in.-; ■ ;


• . • ‘/Because there is no new build and only the existing


• housing stock, compared to other areas which are suf- - fering because of an over supply of property, the


- ■


demand is always going to be maintained.” • 'O Chris Driver, a director at Hbney\yells, added: ■


“House values in the Ribble Valley have been hit, but' nbt as hard as in some other areas. The main growth is from people wantiiig tb rhove in to the area giving us an extra number of buyers per month-which helps the ■' market move and keeps the market here a bit stronger.” ■ He agreed that cbrrectly priced properties are being' sold and th a t there are buyers wanting to purchase pro- ■viding yendors are prepared to accept realistic offers. - ; • Athertons dircetbr Martin MeShane similarly'.


believes, that good-quality properties at the right price, in the right location are still attracting interest.; ' ;.


/ He added: “As estate agents we are working harder' than ever to generate actmty oh sales. .'There are still


■people out there that want to buy and move, but people are taking their time inore.’’


.. ■


' • Russell Anderton, a partner at anderton bosonnet, said: ‘‘Despite the adverse commehis.bn the market on


.the whole, the last two weeks have been thebusiest two' weeks we have had this year in regards to inquiries and - sales.”


‘


. Times for all your properties for ^le throughout the Ribble V a U e y . '


: • See next week’s Clitheroe Advertiser and •


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