22/07/2021
𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐈 𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐦 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐚 𝐡𝐮𝐠𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐟𝐢𝐭' 𝐁𝐲 𝐌𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐚 𝐋𝐚𝐰𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐝:
While older London homeowners are sitting tight, rural house price growth has encouraged downsizers in the countryside.
From the beginning of 2020 to the end of May 2021, 11pc of Savills' sellers in London were downsizing. In rural markets, however, downsizers accounted for 31pc of vendors.
Lindsay Cuthill, of Savills' country house department, said: "The price rises are a happy accelerator. But it is also because homes are selling faster. It used to take months if not years to sell a country house. Now it can be weeks."
At the higher end of the market, the numbers start getting particularly silly. Between April and June, prime regional house prices were up 8.5pc year-on-year - the strongest rate of growth in 11 years, according to Savills. In the coastal and £2m-plus country house markets, the respective jumps were 14.6pc and 12.9pc.
The contrast to London was marked. Prime London house prices were up by only 4.3pc, and flats in the most expensive areas of the capital were down 0.6pc in value.
This means that a person selling a £2m country home would get £258,000 more now than if they sold this time last year. If they were downsizing to a £1m prime London flat, they would be paying £60,000 less. Overall, they would be £318,000 better off than if they had made the move a year ago.