Salcombe in Devon, nicknamed Chelsea-on-Sea by locals, has overtaken Sandbanks in Dorset as the most expensive seaside town for homebuyers in Britain.
The tiny port has become increasingly popular as affluent Britons seek second homes by the sea, with Kate Bush, Sir Michael Parkinson and Sir Clive Woodward among those who own holiday homes in the coastal town.
The average price of a house in Salcombe was £1,244,025 last year, according to a survey of the housing market in 209 seaside locations.
Sandbanks was the country’s second most expensive seaside town, with an average property costing £952,692. Harry Redknapp, the former football manager, sold his waterfront mansion in the town for a record £10 million in 2021.
Prices in Salcombe rose by a third last year. The town, famous for its sandy beaches and secluded coves, swapped places with Sandbanks, which was previously named by Halifax as the priciest seaside spot.
The bank analysed house price data for the 12 months to December to make the findings.
Areas popular among second-home owners in the south and southwest of England dominated the list of the nation’s most expensive seaside property spots.
Aldeburgh, on the Suffolk coast, is the only place outside of those regions to make it into the top ten. It sits in third spot, with an average house price of £794,492.
House hunters looking for value may want to consider moving to Scotland, where nine of the ten least expensive seaside towns are found.
Greenock in Inverclyde, Scotland, had the lowest average house price of the seaside locations analysed at £97,608.
The average price of a seaside home in Britain rose 4 per cent last year to £304,460, with the biggest increase seen in Yarmouth, on the Isle of Wight, where prices jumped by 53 per cent.
Over the past decade prices of houses along the coast have increased on average by 56 per cent.
Prices have risen fastest in Salcombe, up 123 per cent since 2012, while in Margate, in the southeast of England, prices have risen 109 per cent.
Much of that increase was prompted by an exodus from towns and cities to the countryside and the coast during the pandemic.
With international borders closed, many also bought holiday homes to enjoy staycations rather than travelling abroad.
Kim Kinnaird, mortgages director at Halifax, said that second-home ownership had “undoubtedly [played] a role in driving up prices in the most desirable locations”.
Halifax used Land Registry data covering England and Wales in addition to figures from the Registers of Scotland to make the findings.
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Salcombe house prices rise to £1.2m as it becomes priciest seaside town