Housing prices in cities and towns skyrocket as workers prepare to return to the office.
The top postcodes in Winchester, Oxford and Bath saw some of the biggest price increases in the first three months of 2021, at 4%, 3.7% and 3.2%, respectively, according to research by real estate agent Savills.
Edinburgh and York followed, where prices rose 2.6 percent.
The city of Bath, where property prices rose 3.2% in the first quarter of 2020
On average, the value of prime real estate outside London rose 2.2 percent in the first three months of 2020 – the highest quarterly increase since March 2010 – and 5.1 percent annually.
Even in central London, where house prices have fallen since the start of the pandemic, house prices have risen for the first time since 2019.
Values rose 0.4 percent in the first quarter of 2021, though they’re still more than 20 percent below their high.
“It’s no longer just a story of finding a village or rural idyll that dominated 2020,” said Frances Clacy, Savills’ housing research analyst.
“This third lockdown has made some people more aware of what they are missing and there is a real sense of the revitalization of the city.
“We are now seeing world-class regional city markets keeping pace with their rural setting in terms of annual price growth.”
Woodbridge, Suffolk. According to Savills, the county is a hotspot for rural real estate
Londoners pay for proximity to the park – but not for the tube
City shoppers still want access to outside areas, however, and prices for living near a central London park have soared.
Buyers should now expect to pay a “parking premium” of 15.3 percent to live within 100 meters, up from 13.4 percent in 2015, according to the Savills Prime Regional Index.
This third lockdown has made some people more aware of what they are missing and it gives a real sense of the city’s revitalization.
Frances Clacy – Savills
In a Savills poll earlier this month, shoppers said access to a subway station was less important.
Only 39 percent of respondents said they had a subway station nearby, compared to 63 percent a year ago.
East London boroughs like Clerkenwell, Shoreditch and Wapping saw price increases as young financial services firms and those looking for a weekday benefited from lower values compared to that time last year.
At Canary Wharf, however, prices continued to fall, falling 2.5 percent, leaving them nearly 10 percent below their high.
The allure of country life remains strong
In addition to the price growth in the cities, the rural areas are still strong.
Factors like more space and a garden, which led people to move to the countryside at the start of the pandemic, are still high on shoppers’ priority lists, and many workers assume they will only be in the office part of the week have to .
Savills said many of the resettlers were driven by a desire to live closer to their extended family.
“Being close to family is also a very powerful driver now. Our city offices are reporting that buyers are returning to their hometowns,” Clacy said.
The Savills survey found that 48 percent of buyers and sellers were motivated to get closer to family, compared to 39 percent before Covid-19.
The second home hotspots along the coast also continued to show strong growth. The average peak values on the coast rose by 6.8 percent compared to the previous year.
This was most pronounced in Devon and Suffolk, both of which are relatively accessible to second home buyers from London.
More than £ 2 million worth of country houses saw some of the biggest price hikes as wealthy moving companies sought a part of the good life.
The prices in this market rose by 2.9 percent in the past three months and by 8.8 percent annually. Savills said there was no sign of decreased momentum.
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