Is your town a property hotspot?

New market intelligence from online estate agent, eMoov.co.uk, has confirmed that national property demand is now higher outside of London than within the capital, increasing by 5% on Q2.

Related topics:  Property
Warren Lewis
8th October 2015
hot spot 2

The latest Property Hotspots Index records the change in supply and demand for the most populated locations across the UK, by monitoring the total number of properties sold in comparison to those on sale.

What’s Hot

Bexley remains the hottest spot in the UK, with demand climbing a further +3% since Q2 2015, to a huge 77%. Watford (72%), Bristol (71%), Reading (68%) and Barking (65%), make up the rest of the top five hottest locations in the UK for demand.
The tail end consist of commuter zones surrounding the capital, with Sutton (64%) in 6th, Cambridge (67%) 7th and Medway, Havering and Brentwood (64%) completing the top 10.

The London Borough of Ealing has seen the most drastic turn around in property demand since Q2 2015. Although at 38%, demand in the area is still relatively low, it has increased by +74% on the slump experienced in Q2 (22%).

Looking towards the north of the country, Chester has taken the top spot for demand change year on year. At 25 out of 100 locations, York is the highest ranked northern hotspot, with demand at 56%. County Durham (+47%), Huddersfield (+33%), Hull (+31%) and Sefton (+24%) have all seen a rise in demand over the last quarter.
 

What’s Not

Aberdeenshire has fared miserably during Q3 as the coldest spot in the UK with demand at just 10%. Not only was it the biggest faller since Q2, demand in the area has halved since Q3 of 2014.

Highland joins Aberdeenshire as the only other Scottish entry in the top 10 coldest spots, with demand at just (17%). Westminster (15%) and Kensington and Chelsea (17%) are the only London entries, with the other six coldest locations all located in the North West.

With the exception of the London Borough of Camden (-14%) and Cornwall (-17%), all of the biggest fallers from Q2 are located to the north or in Scotland.

Camden is also the 5th biggest faller over the course of the year, with demand reducing by a quarter since Q3, 2014. It is joined in the year’s biggest fallers by Westminster (-33%) in 3rd and Islington (-15%) in 8th. The rest of the year’s biggest fallers are again, located across the north of the country.

London

Demand in London has remained static at 37% from Q2, while national demand outside the capital has climbed +5% since Q2 to 39%. London’s inner boroughs reflect this freeze, however the capital’s outer boroughs have seen a jump of +4% in demand since Q2, as the popularity of commuter zones continues.

This sustained high demand for the commuter belt, reflects the over inflated inner London property market.
This is evident within the hottest London boroughs, as Greenwich is the only inner borough to make the top 10 in Q3. Barking and Dagenham (68%) places as the third hottest borough in Q3 for property demand, beaten only by Bexley (77%) and Sutton (68%).

They are joined in the top 10 hottest London boroughs by Havering (64%), Hillingdon (63%), Redbridge (59%), Waltham Forest (58%), Enfield (57%), Croydon and Greenwich (54%) as for mentioned.

eMoov’s previous Prime Central London Index also highlighted the dire state of the property market in the capital’s most prestigious boroughs. It would seem there is still uncertainty in the market as Westminster (15%), Kensington and Chelsea (17%), Hammersmith and Fulham (21%) and Islington (37%) all rank in the top 10 coldest London boroughs for Q3 2015.

Camden (26%) not only ranks as the fourth coldest borough, but also the biggest faller, having seen demand drop by -14% since Q2. Wandsworth (31%) and Tower Hamlets (35%) also receive the undesirable accolade of making the top 10 coldest boroughs, as well as the top 10 biggest fallers since Q2, with demand in both boroughs down -5%.

Russell Quirk, CEO of eMoov.co.uk, commented: “In early 2014, we predicted the ripple effect London as an individual, market would have on the UK property market. It would seem those waves have started to reach far away shores. Although there are pockets of the capital that have enjoyed sustained demand, it’s the commuter belt that is currently the bubbling cauldron for property demand in the UK.

The uncertainty of the situation in Aberdeenshire and the local oil industry, seems to have had serious repercussions to the local property market. Not only is it bottom of the pile, but demand has halved in just a year. Unfortunately there can only be one consequence to property prices in the area, which is inevitably a drop.”

More like this
Latest from Financial Reporter
Latest from Protection Reporter
CLOSE
Subscribe
to our newsletter

Join a community of over 20,000 landlords and property specialists and keep up-to-date with industry news and upcoming events via our newsletter.