Country house market sees strongest annual growth since 2007
The annual rate of growth for country homes hit its highest level since the first quarter of 2007.
The annual rate hit 10.6 per cent in September with real estate experts anticipating a cooling of the market following the end of the stamp duty holiday.
Average price growth in the category was 2.1 per cent in the three months to September, according to Knight Frank’s latest Prime Country Index.
Buyers have been motivated by the pandemic to look to rural locations and pursue a slower pace of life, with the uptake of home working. However, there are signs this desire is peaking.
This was the weakest quarterly rate this year but was compared to 2 per cent in the third quarter of 2020 and remains significantly above pre-Covid levels.
The ratio of new prospective buyers (demand) versus new instructions (supply) climbed from 11.6 in August to 13 in September. The ratio is the highest it has been in more than eight years, Knight Frank said.
While buyers had to wait an average of 144 days for an offer to be accepted in September 2019, this dropped by 37 per cent to 91 days in September 2021.
The number of viewings held before an offer is accepted was 16.8 in September compared to 21 two years ago.
Chris Druce, senior research analyst at Knight Frank added: “After a remarkable period of activity some of the heat has come out of the country market as we move into autumn. However, the return to normality will likely be a slow process with demand still significantly outstripping supply, a situation that is unlikely to improve significantly until next spring.”
“In recent weeks the number of viewings has slightly waned but that’s left us with serious, discerning buyers. We have people looking that missed out previously and are now highly-motivated to find somewhere that they can move into before Christmas, but even with supply tight it still has to be the right property,” said Edward Shaw, office head at Knight Frank Ascot & Virginia Water.