2015’s Property Hotspot Outside of London Named
Rightmove has announced the property market seeing the highest house price rises of the year: Margate. The Kent resort was the hottest part of Britain for homes outside of London in 2015.
It came out on top of the locations where asking prices have grown the most over the last 12 months. Fuelled by a host of Londoners seeking affordable homes outside of the capital, asking prices in Margate surged by 24.2% this year to an average of £204,631.
Margate has led a housing boom over east and north Kent towns that fall within London’s commuter belt. Also included in Rightmove’s top five were: Gravesend, where asking prices soared by 20.5%, Ramsgate at 18.6% and Dartford at 17.4%.
The only non-Kent area to land in the top five was Altrincham in Greater Manchester, where asking prices jumped by 21.9% to an average of £484,258. It is one of the wealthiest parts of the North West, with some homes fetching up to £5m.
The average increase in asking prices across England and Wales this year was 7.1%.
Top ten areas with highest house price growth outside London
|
Position |
Area | Average house price Jan 15 | Average house price Nov 15 |
Comparison |
| 1 | Margate, Kent | £164,786 | £204,631 | 24.2% |
| 2 | Altrincham, Cheshire | £397,097 | £484,258 | 21.9% |
| 3 | Gravesend, Kent | £214,308 | £258,232 | 20.5% |
| 4 | Ramsgate, Kent | £175,026 | £207,591 | 18.6% |
| 5 | Dartford, Kent | £233,811 | £274,377 | 17.4% |
| 6 | Wokingham, Berkshire | £445,973 | £519,858 | 16.6% |
| 7 | Maidenhead, Berkshire | £447,824 | £521,962 | 16.6% |
| 8 | Luton, Bedfordshire | £200,640 | £233,662 | 16.5% |
| 9 | Slough, Berkshire | £286,626 | £333,010 | 16.2% |
| 10 | Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex | £228,777 | £265,136 | 15.9% |
Outside of London, the most searched for areas on Rightmove this year were Bristol and Cambridge. Prospective buyers made 14m search enquiries for these cities. Third place went to York, followed by Milton Keynes and Norwich.
The property portal also suggests vendors put their property on the market during the second week of August. In 2015, Monday 10th August was Rightmove’s busiest day of the year, with 56m page views, as people tried to find a new home in time for Christmas.
Homes generally last 62 days on the website. Properties were sold fastest in Welwyn Garden City. Homes in the Hertfordshire town were listed for just 25 days, followed closely by Hertford at 26 days.
Top ten areas for quickest property sales outside London
|
Position |
Area |
No. of days on Rightmove |
| 1 | Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire | 25 |
| 2 | Hertford, Hertfordshire | 26 |
| 3 | Ely, Cambridgeshire | 26 |
| 4 | Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire | 28 |
| 5 | Letchworth Garden City, Hertfordshire | 28 |
| 6 | South Ockendon, Essex | 28 |
| 7 | Watford, Hertfordshire | 29 |
| 8 | Hitchin, Hertfordshire | 29 |
| 9 | Sandy, Bedfordshire | 29 |
| 10 | Purfleet, Essex | 29 |
Spokesperson for Rightmove, Sam Mitchell, comments: “This year saw demand reach record levels for home hunters both buying and renting, and the ripple effect from London to the South East moved even further out to places like Essex and Hertfordshire, as you can see from how quick properties are selling in these locations.
“Usually, January is Rightmove’s busiest month, but the New Year rush stayed even longer this year and we recorded our busiest ever month in March.”1