This is how Sheffield’s housing market looks today – according to the director of Redbrik Estate Agency

“Covid-19 hasn’t changed anything for us, but it’s accelerated everything,” says Mark Ross, the firm’s co-founder and managing director.

“It’s as if we’ve moved our working practices forward five years in ten weeks.

“In the past two months, remote working has been established, new technologies are being utilised, we’re moving our entire contact system over to Zoom, our 3D walkthrough technology has finally come into its own, and our online viewing figures are up 1,000 per cent.”

And since the housing market reopened earlier this month, Mark claims the region’s hunger for properties has gone into overdrive.

In the past two weeks, the company has organised 861 viewings, been instructed on 77 new properties, and are currently negotiating 130 offers on properties throughout South Yorkshire and North East Derbyshire

“It’s a busy time for the housing market,” Mark says.

“And the great thing is, we’re not just seeing a trend of first time buyers, or families, or the top-end market - it’s all of it, cash buyers, mortgage buyers, the whole spectrum.

“The truth is, nobody’s going on holiday this year, and a lot of people have woken up a bit richer.

“We’re all spending less, other than an increased food bill, mortgage rates have dropped to free money, and plenty of people are getting refunds from holidays and breaks away.

“The other thing is a lot of people are looking to exit London and head up north. According to Google Analytics, our number one user base is Sheffield, and number two is London.”

But Mark says the news has come as a surprise to some, who believed the current health and economic crisis was likely to drive house prices quickly down.

“We were approached by a buyer recently, who’d already had their offer of £625,000 accepted for a Sheffield property, saying they wanted to reduce their offer to £580,000, as it ‘felt right’ for the market,” says Mark.

“They’d read somewhere that house prices would drop five per cent in six months, so they were trying to knock it off their offer.

“We explained there were other buyers lined up who still wanted to buy the property at its original price, but after three conversations with them, they wouldn’t change their minds.

“The vendor declined their reduced offer, and asked us to sell the property to one of the alternate buyers, which we did, for £625,000.

“Now these first buyers have lost out on their dream home, and are down about £1,000.”

And while Mark says he expects a drop-off in casual viewers, he insists the people who want to buy are still out there.

“If I had a house on the market in the S10 area of Sheffield for £450k, pre-covid, on average I would have had about 55 viewings for that property,” he says.

“Yes, we may find we lose some of the Sunday afternoon casual viewers, but the people who want to buy are still out there.

“People need to consider the Macro-economic climate of our region.

We’re not near an airport, so we’re not going to be affected by aviation, we’re not a travel and tourism centre, and we have two of the best universities in the country. People want to come here.”

And Mark insists that, for the Redbrik team, health and safety is key.

“We’re encouraging everyone to view online and get as much detail as they can before arranging a viewing. We don’t want people to view unnecessarily.

“At viewings, we’re in PPE and we’re asking our clients to do the same; plus we’re keeping appointment times to 20 minutes.”

Visit www.redbrik.co.uk to find out more about buying and selling in the region.