House prices: New build homebuyer demand explodes on England’s south coast and in Wales
Homebuyer demand for new build homes has climbed 9 per cent in the last year, with coastal towns in the south of England and Wales leading the charge.
Across Britain, 38.7 per cent of all new build homes are already sold subject to contract or under offer, a 9 per cent jump on the same time last year, according to BuildScan’s New Build Homebuyer Index, shared with City A.M. this evening.
Biggest increases
When it comes to the biggest year-on-year increases, there is a clear trend for growing demand for new build homes along the south coast and Wales, in particular.
Portsmouth has seen the biggest increase in demand for new build homes, currently at 66 per cent, having jumped +46 per cent when compared to this time last year.
Swansea has seen the second largest increase, up 42 per cent, with Plymouth (33 per cent), Bournemouth (32 per cent) and Newport (24 per cent) also seeing a considerable jump in new build homebuyer demand.
Bournemouth (81 per cent), Swansea (74 per cent), Portsmouth (66 per cent), Plymouth (62 per cent) and Bristol (54 per cent) rank as the hottest spots where current homebuyer demand is concerned.
London remains flat
New build demand hasn’t increased in every city though. Both Leeds (-7 per cent) and Oxford (-4 per cent) have seen demand fall compared to this time last year, while Newcastle and London have remained flat.
| Location | Current New Build Demand | Annual Change (%) |
| Portsmouth | 66% | 46% |
| Swansea | 74% | 42% |
| Plymouth | 62% | 33% |
| Bournemouth | 81% | 32% |
| Newport | 32% | 24% |
| Cardiff | 30% | 16% |
| Glasgow | 28% | 16% |
| Southampton | 34% | 13% |
| Bristol | 54% | 12% |
| Liverpool | 16% | 11% |
| Sheffield | 38% | 9% |
| Cambridge | 44% | 7% |
| Manchester | 17% | 4% |
| Leicester | 20% | 4% |
| Nottingham | 33% | 4% |
| Edinburgh | 19% | 3% |
| Birmingham | 20% | 2% |
| Aberdeen | 1% | 1% |
| London | 18% | 0% |
| Newcastle | 7% | 0% |
| Oxford | 21% | -4% |
| Leeds | 31% | -7% |
| United Kingdom | 39% | 9% |
| Demand percentage is based on the number of homes already SSTC or Under Offer as a percentage of total stock in an area. | ||
“A number of current market indicators suggest that the new build sector is really helping to fuel the current housing boom, with both transaction numbers and house price growth showing a sharp uplift over the last year,” said Harry Yates, founder and managing director of BuildScan.
“This is also clear when analysing buyer demand for new build housing with all but a handful of major cities seeing a notable leap in market activity. Although a degree of this demand is due to the current stamp duty holiday, it’s not unusual to see the appetite for new build homes sit consistently higher than that of the regular market,” Yates told City A.M.
He expects this demand will continue as housebuilders struggle to keep pace with this high level of demand. As a result, prices are likely to keep climbing too.