The Daily Telegraph - Saturday - Money
The town where 15pc of homes sold in 2022
Every home in Salcombe in Devon would have a new owner in just 6.6 years’ time at last year’s rate of sales. In other towns it would take 50 years. Alexandra Goss reports
Salcombe in Devon has long been sought after: a honeypot for tourists who love its colour-wash cottages, beautiful golden beaches and the rolling countryside all around. This well-heeled resort, nicknamed Chelsea- on- Sea, also has the distinction of being the most active property market in Britain.
In the year to July 2021, 15.1pc of all properties in Salcombe – including owner- occupied and privately rented dwellings – changed hands, according to research by Hamptons estate agency.
If everyone continued to move at this rate, the agency said it would take only 6.6 years for all the properties in the town to have a new owner.
Like many seaside locations, Salcombe, which is at the mouth of the Kingsbridge Estuary, has seen a boom in buyers since the pandemic began. And they are coming with deep pockets: the majority of properties sold in the past year were detached homes, which went for an average of £1,042,654, according to Rightmove, the website.
Although we don’t know how many properties in Salcombe were bought as second homes in the 12 months to July, many of those are thought to be holiday properties.
In 2018 the neighbourhood planning steering group estimated that 57pc of properties in the town were second homes. As a result, South Hams district council hopes to bring in a legal requirement that all newbuild homes must be sold as a principal residence – and remain that way in perpetuity.
Yet Blair Stewart of Strutt & Parker estate agency said there had also been an increase in people looking for homes to live in full-time in Salcombe since the pandemic began.
“Demand for permanent homes has grown by about 20pc, with people attracted by the excellent schools in the area, the Enid Blyton lifestyle for children on the beautiful beaches and Dartmoor nearby,” he said. “This, combined with recent improvements to telecoms, means working from home is now more possible.”
Hot on Salcombe’s heels is Dartmouth, another popular and picturesque waterside town in Devon’s South Hams. Hamptons said 12.6pc of homes here sold in 2020-21, meaning it would take 7.9 years for all properties to change hands.
The average property sold over the past year cost £418,131, according to Rightmove.
Pensioners Christian and Linda Pegley moved from the Teign Valley on Dartmoor to Dartmouth at the start of the year, after they bought a three-bedroom bungalow at the Little Cotton Farm development by Baker Estates, where prices start at £279,995 for a two-bedroom property.
‘People are attracted by the excellent schools, the Enid Blyton lifestyle for children and the beaches’
“We enjoy watching the river traffic go by, as well as the many pubs, restaurants and coffee shops,” said Mr Pegley, 74. “We are looking forward to summer here.”
Canford Cliffs, the affluent suburb of Poole in Dorset, saw the third highest turnover. It attracts a range of buyers, said Susie Hall of JM Chase Property Search, a buying agent. “We’ve rediscovered the joy of the British seaside but expect much more sophistication than our parents did,” she said.
“There are excellent restaurants in the area, but demand is such that some now have to be booked weeks if not months ahead.”
Covid brought about a marked shift in the length of time people stay in their homes in certain areas, according to David Fell of Hamptons. “People have nearly always moved into and around cities more often than they leave suburbia or the country, where they tend to put down deeper roots,” he said.
“Before the pandemic the rate of turnover in cities was more than four times that of the country, but in the past two years this gap has closed. The more sought-after small towns and coastal hotspots have all seen big increases in activity, which has pushed up turnover rates.”
Many sellers in such places have seen an opportunity and seized it.
Retired company director Robert Johnston and his wife, Annabel, had owned their three-bedroom sea-view property, a two- minute walk to the beach on the south coast of Cornwall, for 20 years but chose to sell it last year after they realised how popular the area had become.
“This is especially due to people being unable to get away because of Covid and houses on that part of the coast are rarely for sale, so we knew it would sell well,” said Mr Johnston, who is in his 70s and sold his home before it even reached the open market.
Some city locations have also seen high levels of sales, defying the perceived exodus from urban areas at the height of the pandemic. In ritzy Mayfair in central London, 10.4pc of all properties sold.
Ashley Wilsdon of the buying agency Middleton Advisors attributed this to a large number of new-build apartments selling in “super-prime” schemes such as No 1 Grosvenor Square, where the average price of properties bought at the end of last year was £24m. The penthouse sold for a staggering £140m in 2020.
“After lockdown, as foreign travel resumed, we saw a swathe of international buyers acquiring these types of homes,” Mr Wilsdon said.
In Canary Wharf, east London, sales have risen as the area has come back to life after the lockdowns.
Ben Butler of Savills estate agency said: “The buzz of Canary Wharf really is back – people have returned to their offices, the tube is busier and there’s even a queue outside Pret a Manger in the mornings.
“There is demand across the market, from flats at about £ 350,000 to £ 1m- plus penthouses in the area’s sought-after developments.”
Last May one buyer, a 40-year- old who works as a manager, and his fiancée, 30, bought a two-bedroom, twobathroom flat in the 10 Park Drive development in Canary Wharf, where prices range from £715,000 for a studio to £2.5m for three bedrooms.
“I have been working in a bank in Canary Wharf, so it’s very convenient for me, while my fiancée can be at work in central London in 25 minutes. These short commutes enable us to have a better work-life balance,” the buyer said.
“The development has many amenities, including access to gyms, a residents’ lounge and sky garden, while the estate hosts festivals, activities and arts and cultural events throughout the year, making living in Canary Wharf a lot more diverse.”
Nevertheless, cities dominate the list of places that recorded low turnover of property, accounting for 14 of the 15 locations where fewest people moved in the year to last July.
Five of the locations were in parts of Birmingham, with Small Heath, in the south east of the city, coming bottom. Only 2.1pc of properties in the area sold, meaning that it would take 48.6 years for all the properties to gain a new owner.
A key reason for the low turnover in Birmingham, as well as in parts of Manchester and Bradford, is the dominance of investors in these markets, Mr Fell said.
“Turnover has been suppressed by landlords holding on to homes, typically selling them less often than owner-occupiers,” he added.
The average length of time people hold on to their properties in most places fell by 2.5pc- 5pc between 2019 and 2021, and by 10pc in London, according to Nicholas Gibson of Savills estate agency.
“Low interest rates, the stamp duty holiday and boosted pandemic savings – for those who were able to continue working – as well as an increase in those wanting to move for lifestyle reasons, have sped up the decline in the average length of stay,” he said.
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