Cornwall steals the top spot!

- Mon 22 Mar 2021

One year on from the stay at home restrictions were announced, Rightmove has released new data which shows the most popular wants and needs for where people would like to live and the type of home they are looking for.

Cornwall was the most searched for location on Rightmove, proving it to be the most sought after place to live and knocking London off the top spot. The county received over five million searches in February 2021 as people favour beautiful countryside and coastal towns and villages over the capital city. The appeal of the countryside has risen so much so that six out of the top ten buyer searches that saw the biggest increase over the last year have been in Devon and Cornwall. Devon featured as the third most popular location after London, which slipped to second, highlighting the demand for people to enjoy all that our reghion has to offer. These included many areas Bradleys sell properties such as Polperro in Looe, Hayle and Truro, which were among the most popular locations. When looking at annual sales agreed in the second half of 2020, these grew by 69% in rural areas!

The biggest shift in enquiries has been more in people who currently live in a city enquiring about property on the outskirts of that city. 52% of Londoners now commute into the city to work compared to the 39% this time last year and the trend is the same across all 10 of the biggest cities in the UK. Time at home has given people the opportunity and realisation that it is possible to work from home and so their future plans to relocate to more rural areas for a more relaxed lifestyle have been pushed forward.

Living close to green space, having bigger gardens, home offices, more internal space and being closer to the coast are all something that buyers have wanted over the past year. As people look for all these qualities, five bedroom detached houses seem to be the highest in demand with sales being up 38% compared to last year, this is closely followed by four bedroom detached houses which are 26% up on last year. It is also likely that these figures may have been fluctuated by the announcement of the stamp duty holiday, with savings being largest for more expensive homes and so buyers have seen an opportunity to be able to move to their dream home earlier than they had planned.

Tenants also desire more space externally, this time last year the most popular property search for tenants was a 2 bedroom flat which has been replaced by a 2 bedroom semi detached house this year.

Sales Director Darren Ellis commented; "We have seen a substantial increase in both people looking to move within our region as well as people moving from outside of it. There are also lots of enquiries as to whether a converted garage, loft space or extending a home will mean a higher value where people are weighing up if to move or adapt their current home, which in most cases leads to home owners moving. Many homes have risen in value since the pandemic started a year ago and we believe this may continue for a while yet with demand running so high."

The enquiry levels for people looking to move has reached record levels with most buyers wanting a lifestyle change supporting the latest data released from Rightmove. If you are considering moving closer to the coast or the countryside, take a look at our latest properties for sale or contact one of our Bradleys offices where we would be delighted to assist with your search for a new home as well as the sale or let of your existing home.