House price growth in the UK’s countryside towns is outperforming the national average, while coastal areas are failing to match the same pace. 

The eXp UK estate agency has analysed house price change across coastal and countryside hotspots over the past year to see how each compares to nationwide price growth over the same period of time. 

UK-wide average house prices have increased 1.7 per cent in the past year, rising from £282,777 to £287,546; but in countryside towns, average price growth has been slightly stronger, rising by 1.8 per cent. 

Meanwhile, seaside towns are lagging with annual price growth of just 0.7%. 

A town-by-town analysis reveals more about the difference between our coastal and countryside markets. 

The highest seaside growth has been recorded in Tynemouth, North Tyneside, where prices are up 5.9 per cent; meanwhile the strongest countryside growth, recorded in Market Harborough, is 9.1 per cent.

Furthermore, of the 20 seaside towns analysed, six have actually seen house prices drop in the past year. The most significant of these is in Tenby, Pembrokeshire, where prices are down 6.1 per cent.

In the countryside, on the other hand, only two town locations have seen a drop in prices with Tetbury, Cotswold falling by 2.0 per cent, and Dumfries in Scotland falling by 3.3 per cent. 

Head of eXp UK, Adam Day, comments:  “Our finest seaside towns have always benefited from strong and steady buyer demand which, when combined with a finite number of properties and limited development opportunities due to geographical limitations, results in reliably high prices. These high prices often put coastal towns out of many buyers’ reach, and it seems that the recent cost of living and mortgage crisis has worked to exacerbate this fact.”