House prices plummet in South Tyneside - as region is hit by valuation plunge

Property agent Ajay Jagota says the warning signs were clear for he saw this months property price plunge.

The eye-opening figures - compiled in a region-wide study by South Tyneside sales and letting agents KIS - reveal that the value of a home in South Shields also fell by 4.9% in the same month, above the 4% regional average.

The statistics, covering April, make for grim reading for those keen to offload properties - but are a boost for house hunters keen to secure the keys to a new home.

The average house price in both towns is also well below the North East average.

The average property in South Shields is currently on sale for £131,520, with a Jarrow home fetching £117,237 - down on the regional figure of £155,979.

While house prices may have shrunk in the short-term in Souuth Shields, valuations in the town have enjoyed the largest overall increase in the North East (6.7%) in the last two years.

The average monthly rent figure in Jarrow is £441 - the second lowest in the North East - while people in South Shields are forking out £475.

It is cheaper to keep a roof over your head in both towns, with the North East rent figure rising £14 to £566.

Ajay Jagota, Managing Director of KIS, says the house price fall was ‘predictable’.

He said: “These figures were entirely predictable. I’ve been forecasting for months that March would see prices boom as landlords raced to complete purchases ahead of tax changes which took place at the start of this month, before slumping back as many abandoned those investments altogether when they became less profitable. And so it proved.”