Top 10 North East streets escape credit crunch

Nov 15 2008 by Paul James, The Journal

THE 10 most expensive streets in the North East are today revealed – and prices are holding strong in spite of the credit crunch.

Estate agents Halifax has named the region’s exclusive addresses based on data from the Land Registry, naming Runnymede Road in Darras Hall as number one.

Homes in that street – where residents include no less than 145 company directors – averaged £1,135,625 on the market between 2004 and 2008.

Second on the list is another street in Darras Hall – the nearby Western Way – where the average house sold for £1,123,571 during that period.

Third is Lindisfarne Road in Jesmond, at £1,003,822, with Darras Road in Darras Hall fourth on the list with an average house price of £760,111.

The only street on the list from outside the NE postcode area is West Park Road in Cleadon, South Tyneside, with an average sale price of £760,000 over the past four years.

Apart from Main Road, Woolsington, which is sixth, the remaining streets on the list are all from Gosforth in Newcastle, including Grove Park Square, Osbaldeston Gardens, Elmfield Road and The Grove.

And prices in all the top 10 streets are holding strong despite the current housing slump, suggesting the top end of the market is stable – with sales of £1m-plus recorded in five of the six most expensive streets in the past year.

Halifax economist Nitesh Patel said: “These particular properties and postcodes are in very desirable areas. I suspect Runnymede Road is a street where few houses come on the market but when they do they get snapped up.

“I suspect that’s where a lot of the wealthy footballers live. It’s something you will probably see around the country – where particular postcodes attract people with the necessary wealth.

“Once a postcode is established as a place to be, houses there are going to be expensive.”

Streets just outside the top 10 in the North East include Linden Acres in Morpeth, Northumberland, at £644,285, and Bemersyde Drive in Jesmond, where the average home sold for £626,071.

Nationally, The Vale in Kensington and Chelsea is the most expensive residential street in Britain with an average house price of £4,677,500.

Page 2: 20 Most Expensive Residential Streets by Region