Research also reveals the top coastal price hotspots
Asking prices for homes across all seaside locations in Great Britain went up by 13.9% on average compared to last year, outpacing the national average of 9.9% following increased demand for coastal areas during the pandemic.
This was revealed by property website Rightmove, which also revealed the seaside locations that had the biggest increase in asking prices over the past year.
According to Rightmove, Canford Cliffs in Poole, Dorset is the top seaside price hotspot, with asking prices jumping 24% compared to last year, the most of any coastal area.
Steve Isaacs, director at Luxury & Prestige Properties in Canford Cliffs, observed that Canford Cliffs had been incredibly busy for a long time, and it is still seeing really strong demand to move to that part of Dorset.
“One of the key things we’ve noticed influencing moves is that working patterns have changed. We’re seeing lots of people wanting to buy larger homes now that they spend more time working from home, and we’re also seeing new types of buyers looking in Canford Cliffs from outside the area now that their work has become more flexible,” Isaacs shared.
“Before the pandemic, we had many people interested in a holiday home, now we’re seeing more people looking for a property they can comfortably spend a good portion of the year in and work. One advantage of Canford Cliffs is its easy access to London and other parts of Great Britain, and we’ve had some buyers choose the area because of this,” he added.
Read more: Rightmove on UK house prices – another increase.
Meanwhile, the Righmove study found Brixham in Devon as the second seaside price hotspot, with asking prices rising 23%. Abergele in Conwy, Wales is third at 22%.
Rightmove said that since the pandemic started, there had been strong demand for homes in coastal areas, and this demand has often outstripped supply, which has contributed to the rising asking prices being seen now.
Competition for homes in seaside locations during the last year has meant the pace of the market has increased.
Based on Rightmove’s research, the average time to find a buyer in a seaside location is 33 days, and on average, homes are finding buyers nearly three weeks (20 days) quicker than last year.
Tim Bannister, director of property science at Rightmove, said the property website is in a unique position that enables it to see activity across the whole of the market, which provides a strong indication of how buyers are behaving in real time.
“Right at the start of the pandemic when the market re-opened, we saw a huge surge in demand for these coastal areas as people wanted a sea view or more space near the coast. There have been large periods where demand has greatly outstripped supply over the last couple of years which has contributed to the significant rise in asking prices we’re seeing today,” Bannister stressed.
“Encouragingly, with new stock coming to market, we are starting to see signs of a better balance of supply and demand in seaside areas than we were a year ago, and we’d expect this to filter through to the market and potentially moderate the pace of price rises in the coming months,” he continued.
