The British cities where property sales are soaring

The housing market is rebounding, according to Zoopla, with sales agreed 15pc higher than this time last year. But which markets are bouncing back most decisively?

PropCast has identified the five UK cities where the number of properties that are under offer or sold subject to contract has increased the most compared to a year ago. Coventry, Oxford, Chelmsford and Sunderland all appear on the list; so what is driving the upswing in these very different cities?  

Coventry

Top of the table is the West Midlands city where 68pc of properties on the market are under offer or sold subject to contract, equal to a rise of 11.5pc since 12 months ago. This is far above the national average of 39pc.

New buyer registrations are up 47pc on a year ago, said Mike Cleary of agent Sheldon Bosley Knight, driven by affordability. 

“Coventry has been undervalued for too long – but that is finally changing.” 

Among these changes are the £82m upgrade to the railway station (with trains taking an hour to London), the £450m redevelopment including City Centre South, a new mixed-use quarter, and the new West Midlands gigafactory. The number of people moving to Coventry by 21pc in the past five years, according to Knight Frank analysis of data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

Investors from Dubai and Hong Kong with links to the city’s University of Warwick are among purchasers of new luxury apartments, said Mr Cleary. Popular suburbs in the city’s southwest are Earlsdon, Stivichal, Cheylesmore and Finham. A three-bedroom house near Finham Park School, an oversubscribed secondary, costs around £325,000.

Buy-to-let investors from the capital are also active, said Jag Chaggar of Tutis Estates. “They are buying two-bedroom properties for around £140,000 in CV2 and CV6 postcodes, areas on the outskirts with good transport links. Rental rates of £900 to £950 per month make up for the higher mortgage costs.”

Lichfield

With 40pc of properties under offer, up 5.3pc in the last year, the compact Staffordshire city has an average sold price of £325,217, according to Rightmove. 

Lichfield attracts professionals and downsizers for its arts scene, festivals and independent shops: it’s got Staffordshire’s first and only Michelin-starred restaurant, Upstairs by Tom Shepherd. Good schools such as King Edwards VI attract families.

Demand for three-bedroom semis at £400,000 to £500,000 is driving the market, said Simon Pickering, of Hunters estate agency, with many first-time buyers or second-steppers bypassing two-bedroom properties. He added that Streethay has been gaining popularity, helped by a new primary school, and easy access to Lichfield Trent Valley station. 

James Kidd from Paul Carr Estate agents is seeing a flow of buyers from nearby Sutton Coldfield. 

“They are attracted by having more to do right on their doorstep. This month a young couple [from there] bought a two-bedroom flat for £200,000 in the centre of Lichfield.” Boley Park estate remains popular, he added; here, four-bedroom houses are around £450,000. 

Chelmsford

House prices in the Essex city have fallen in the last year, from £421,765 a year ago to now £415,546, according to OnTheMarket. But the proportion of homes for sale that are under offer or sold subject to contract is now 45pc, up 4.7pc in the last year.

Its Bond Street shopping and restaurants continue to attract young professionals; last month it was named the best train station for London commuters by On Time Trains, with 88pc of its trains running on time in 2023. The arrival of a second station – at Beaulieu Park, in 2025 – will help cater for the hundreds of new homeowners in developments in the east and northeast of the city.

It was ease of access to London, good schools and the prospect of property price rises that drew Ellyanne and Russell Bradley to Beaulieu on the northeast outskirts of Chelmsford in 2022. The parents of two children bought a four-bedroom house on Cala Homes’ development within the 604-acre new district, where the new train station is being built.

“We longed for greener surroundings after feeling cooped up during Covid and wanted to upsize from our old village, 15 minutes from Beaulieu,” said Ms Bradley, a procurement manager.

“We wanted to be rural, and had plans to move to Saffron Walden, but the waiting list for schools was a nightmare. With the children approaching secondary school age, the schools in Beaulieu’s catchment appealed. It’s within easy reach of Chelmsford centre, with lots more outside space.” 

Karl Manning, of Savills, said they continue to see upsizing buyers from south-west Essex and east London looking for space and schooling.

“Our most recent sale was a 1920s five-bedroom house that went for just under the guide price of £995,000, after numerous viewings.” Those looking for a bit more value might look to Chelmer Village, where three-bedroom houses are around £350,000.

Mark Lawrinson, of Beresford, reports that there are 38pc more first-time buyer applicants than a year ago. “The strongest activity is £250,000 to £300,000 – one and two-bed flats.”

He added that in the centre, studio flats for around £170,000 are still interesting BTL investors too. 

Sunderland

This Tyne & Wear port town, with an average property price of £163,508, according to Rightmove, is attracting a mix of first-time buyers and investors. Here, the proportion of properties under offer is 41pc, 2.5pc higher than last year. In 2023 it was one of the top 15 UK locations for rental returns, according to Hamptons, with an average yield of 9.5pc. 

“It’s a no-brainer to invest here right now, it’s really changing,” said local buy-to-let owner Darryl Cullerton. He has bought 70 properties in the city for between £25,000 and £75,000. “Even with buy-to-let mortgage rates of 15pc to 16pc the numbers still stack up. One-bedroom flats are good bets for students.”

Local investors like the Hylton Castle and Castletown areas, said Natalie Banks of Purplebricks. “They are looking at three-bedroom semis from around £120,000, while families like the Victorian terraces of Ashbrooke or High Barnes for schools.”

Family homes in pricier areas are also in demand, said Thom Swalwell of Hunters. “Seaburn, Roker, and Fulwell are popular; also further north by the coast SR6 (Whitburn and Cleadon): three-bedroom homes from £250,000,” he added. 

Oxford

The university city doesn’t go out of fashion, despite an average property price of £575,029 in the past six weeks, according to OnTheMarket. The number of people moving to Oxford has increased by 17pc over the past five years, according to Knight Frank and ONS data. Here, there are 2.1pc more properties on the market that are under offer or sold subject to contract than last year.

Many newly arriving employers and staff are in the life sciences sector. Oxford saw its highest total ever recorded laboratory space in 2023, according to Savills, and this, along with education, underpins demand in the residential market. Oxford North, a new life sciences district, will include laboratories and workspaces for biomedical science, homes, parks, shops and restaurants.

The popular suburb of Headington in the east is very popular for buy-to-let buyers and students, and for others priced out of the expensive North Oxford and Summertown areas. You can find a four-bedroom house for £800,000 in Old Headington, through Chancellors. 

Charles Elsmore-Wickens, of Savills, said: “More properties are coming onto the market as buyers and sellers are wanting to get on with things. 

Last week we had competitive bidding on a property in St Giles, and then a five-bedroom semi at £2.85m sold in excess of the guide price.” Their busiest price range is £1m-£2.5m.