Prices for prime country homes rose 1.2% in the second quarter of 2020 despite property markets spending weeks shuttered as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, according to Knight Frank
The U.K.’s high-end country home market has seen prices outperform any other property type in the country this spring, driven by demand for more rural living and the greater ease at which deep-pocketed buyers are able to transact, according to a report Monday from Knight Frank.
Prices for prime country homes rose 1.2% in the second quarter of 2020 despite property markets spending weeks shuttered as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, the estate agency said. The report did not specify what the median or average prices are now.
Overall, price growth in the U.K. has slumped amid the pandemic. Values fell 0.1% annually across the country in June, leaving the average property price at £216,403 (US$270,000), the first year-over-year decline since 2012, Mansion Global previously reported.
Buyers at the top end of the market have been willing and able to move quickly to secure their desired homes as lockdown restrictions have eased, Chris Druce, senior research analyst at Knight Frank, said in the report. The relative scarcity of homes available at this price point can spark competitive bidding, which has put a degree of upwards price pressure at this end of the market.
In the six weeks between May 13—when England’s real estate industry resumed operating—and June 24, the number of offers accepted on homes priced between £5 million and £10 million outside of London was 182% higher than the five-year average, compared to 64% for the overall market.
The number of new prospective buyers for £5 million-plus properties in country markets was 137% higher than the five-year average over the same time frame. Across the overall market, the rise was 52%.
People are sensing an opportunity now, Edward Rook, partner in Knight Frank’s Country Department, said in the report. In the previous three or four years, there have been consistent bumps in the road, and the clear water people were looking for never came. We had that, at last, after the general election and then the lockdown came. People have simply decided it’s now or never.
