Hampshire housing market enjoys biggest property sales boom

August 26, 2021 / Isla MacFarlane
Hampshire housing market enjoys biggest property sales boom

Research from the national estate agent, Keller Williams UK, reveals which areas of Great Britain have experienced the biggest post-pandemic bounce back in terms of volume of house sales, as well as those areas where, in a frantic and busy housing market, sales have actually dropped.

Regional frontrunners

In Q1 2020, before the pandemic had taken full hold of the country, there were 199,885 home sales in Great Britain. A year later, in Q1 2021, there were 210,574 sales, a year-on-year increase of 23.3%.

Regionally speaking, England’s South East has experienced the biggest year-on-year change, growing from 29,797 sales in Q1 2020, to just under 42,500 in Q1 2021. This marks a staggering growth in sales volume of 12,667 homes, or 42.5%.

Scotland has also experienced a significant boom, with total sales volume in Q1 2021 outstripping that of 2020 by 38.3%, or a total of 7,434 sales. In the East of England, sales grew by 33.3% in the same time period; in the South West sales grew by 30.7%; and in London, sales volume rose from 19,834 in Q1 2020, to 24,943 in Q1 2021, an increase of 25.8%.

In fact, all of Britain’s regions experienced higher sales volumes in 2021 than in 2020, including the West Midlands (15.3%), Yorkshire & Humber (12.1%),  East Midlands (11.9%),

North West (9.1%), North East (5.9%), and Wales (0.3%).

Best performances at local authority level

By zooming in even more closely on the map of Great Britain, the data reveals which individual districts have experienced the biggest pandemic bounce backs, and which have endured the sharpest declines.

The New Forest, spread across Hampshire and Wiltshire in England’s South East, has seen the most significant bounce back. In Q1 2020, the region saw 555 sales, while in Q1 2021, the local total was 1,037, growth of 86.8%. In Hart, also in Hampshire, sales volume increased 76.7% in the same time period with Uttlesford (75.6%), Epsom & Ewell (74.8%), and Argyll & Bute (70.2%) close behind.

Biggest market slumps

Not all of Britain’s districts have fared quite so well during the pandemic year between Q1 2020 and Q1 2021. In a number of places, sales volume has actually declined despite the incredibly busy UK housing market.

The sharpest decline in volume has been experienced by the City of London. In Q1 2020, the district saw 49 sales, and in Q1 2021 just 35 sales, a decline of -28.6%. It’s a similar story in Tower Hamlets, also in the capital, where sales dropped by -26% from 839 in 2020 to 621 in 2021.

In Knowsley, near Liverpool, sales dropped by 21.1% while Preston (-15.8%), Mansfield (-15%), Newport (-14.9%), Hull (-14.7%), Bridgend (-14.5%), Torfaen (-14.4%), and Manchester (10.7%) also experienced year-on-year volume decline between Q1 2020 and Q1 2021.

CEO of Keller Williams UK, Ben Taylor, said: “England’s South East has long been one of the country’s most desirable locations and house prices have always been well above average. In Hampshire, which benefits from having large cities such as Southampton as well as areas of great natural beauty like the New Forest, the housing market is on fire. An 87% rise in sales over the course of one year is quite extraordinary and serves as a microcosm for much of the nation.

“And it’s also interesting to see the North East and North West towards the very bottom of the growth table, given how often these two regions are spoken of in terms of booming popularity. It goes to show that, despite the radical changes we have seen due to the pandemic, there is still  a significant north-south divide in the British housing market.”

Table shows sales volumes in Q1, 2021 and year on year change
Location Sales vol – Q1 2020 Sales vol – Q1 2021 Change n Change %
South East 29,797 42,464 12,667 42.5%
Scotland 19,408 26,842 7,434 38.3%
East of England 20,384 27,179 6,795 33.3%
South West 19,849 25,943 6,094 30.7%
London 19,834 24,967 5,133 25.9%
West Midlands Region 16,920 19,505 2,585 15.3%
Yorkshire and The Humber 16,961 19,005 2,044 12.1%
East Midlands 15,608 17,459 1,851 11.9%
North West 23,484 25,621 2,137 9.1%
North East 7,960 8,431 471 5.9%
Wales 9,679 9,707 28 0.3%
England 170,797 210,574 39,777 23.3%
Great Britain 199,885 247,124 47,239 23.6%
Data sourced from the Gov.uk – UK House Price Index
         
Table shows the areas with the largest year on year increase in sales volumes in Q1
Location Sales vol – Q1 2020 Sales vol – Q1 2021 Change n Change %
New Forest 555 1,037 482 86.8%
Hart 275 486 211 76.7%
Uttlesford 270 474 204 75.6%
Epsom and Ewell 230 402 172 74.8%
Argyll and Bute 346 589 243 70.2%
Wealden 566 952 386 68.2%
Elmbridge 476 798 322 67.6%
Enfield 539 895 356 66.0%
Horsham 495 820 325 65.7%
Winchester 357 590 233 65.3%
Data sourced from the Gov.uk – UK House Price Index
         
Table shows the areas with the largest year on year decrease in sales volumes in Q1
Location Sales vol – Q1 2020 Sales vol – Q1 2021 Change n Change %
City of London 49 35 -14 -28.6%
Tower Hamlets 839 621 -218 -26.0%
Knowsley 479 378 -101 -21.1%
Preston 438 369 -69 -15.8%
Mansfield 407 346 -61 -15.0%
Newport 537 457 -80 -14.9%
City of Kingston upon Hull 729 622 -107 -14.7%
Bridgend 564 482 -82 -14.5%
Torfaen 284 243 -41 -14.4%
Manchester 1,414 1,263 -151 -10.7%
Data sourced from the Gov.uk – UK House Price Index
         

 

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