More than a third of seaside towns across the nation saw an increase of at least ten per cent in the average house price over the past twelve months, with six of the best performing located north of the Borders. The best performing throughout Great Britain was the Ayrshire coastal town of Girvan after average house prices rose by 41 per cent to hit £131,512 in March of this year.
This was followed by fellow Scottish seaside towns of Arbroath, up 30 per cent to £116,362 and Ardrossan, up 28 per cent to £103,184. In England, the best performing seaside town was St Mawes in Cornwall, with a 26 per cent price rise to £306,212, and the best performer in Wales was Colwyn Bay, up 12 per cent to £174,758.
Broadening this time frame out to three years, the seaside town with the biggest house price increase was Eyemouth in the Scottish Borders, with prices up by 82 per cent to £155,278.
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Out of the ten largest increases over the last three years, the top nine were all in Scotland. Tenth on the list was Seaham in the north of England with a 63 per cent increase taking the average price to £121,956. Twenty-four of the 117 seaside towns surveyed experienced at least a 50 per cent increase in average house prices between March 2004 and March 2007.
The most expensive seaside town is Sandbanks in Dorset with an average price of £488,761, making it one of the most expensive towns of any description in the UK. This is followed by Padstow in Cornwall at £334,385 and Milford on Sea in Hampshire at £326,277. Nine of the ten most expensive seaside towns are in the South West.
With picturesque views, a traditional community feel and the beach only a stones throw away, it comes as no surprise that the average seaside town trades at a premium of £5,298 (or 3 per cent) to the average house price in their county. This is largest in Sandbanks in Dorset which boasts a hefty one of 106 per cent, the Mumbles in Wales at 92 per cent and St Andrews in Fife at 86 per cent.
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Twenty-four seaside towns have a premium to the average house price in their county of at least 20 per cent, however sixteen trade at a discount of at least 20 per cent to the average house price in their county, providing a good opportunity for keen investors.
This discount is largest in Kent with Margate and Dover coming in at 30 per cent and 29 per cent respectively. Seven of the sixteen towns trading at a 20 per cent discount are located in the South East of England. However, there also towns with a discount of at least 20 per cent in the North, Yorkshire & the Humber and East Anglia.
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Seaside towns in Sussex accounted for six of the ten smallest house price increases over the three years to March 2007, suggesting that they have already peaked. These towns include Newhaven at 13 per cent, Littlehampton at 13 per cent, Eastbourne at 14 per cent and Peacehaven at 16 per cent. Interestingly, the most expensive seaside town Sandbanks in Poole, has also seen one of the smallest house price increases over three years only increasingly by 15 per cent.
The most expensive postcode district is BH13 in Sandbanks (£488,761) followed by BH3 in Bournemouth (£353,720) and BH14 in Poole (£335,916).
Colin Kemp, Managing Director, Halifax Estate Agents, said: “Seaside towns have generally seen firm house price performance over the past year. They attract buyers looking for a lifestyle change, along with second-home buyers and buy to let investors.
While many seaside towns trade at a premium to the house prices in surrounding towns, some opportunities still exist for home buyers, including coastal parts of Kent, Sussex and North Yorkshire.”
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