Bath tops city asking price hotspots list
- Bath is the top city price hotspot across Great Britain, with asking prices rising 15% over the last year, more than any other city
- Truro in Cornwall is the second city asking price hotspot (+14.8%) and Southend-On-Sea is third (+13.4%)
- Average growth of 12.6% in the top ten city hotspots outpaces national asking price growth of 9.9% as demand outstrips supply
- Cities near coastal and countryside see strongest price growth, as buyers balance wanting city amenities and being near to work with a desire for more space
- As the demand and supply mismatch continues, Glasgow is the city with the highest competition to buy a home, followed by Stirling and Sheffield
- Competition has increased the most in Exeter over the last year, more than doubling (+110%), followed by Lancaster (+100%) and Worcester (+99%)
New data from the UK’s biggest property website Rightmove reveals that Bath is the top city price hotspot in Great Britain, with asking prices rising 15% over the last year, more than any other city.
Truro, in Cornwall, was the second city price hotspot, with asking prices jumping 14.8% over the last year, while Southend-On-Sea, Great Britain’s newest city after being granted city status earlier this year, was third with a rise of 13.4% in annual asking prices.
The top five city asking price hotspots are in some of the past year’s most popular coastal and countryside areas, highlighting the balance many buyers are looking to find between being near to work and city amenities, and having more space.
Across the top ten city hotpots, the average increase in asking prices is 12.6%, outpacing the current national average of 9.9%. One of the reasons behind the significant rise in prices is the mismatch of supply and demand, where over the last year, the number of buyers enquiring to move to many cities has outweighed the homes available.
In the South West, where the price hotspots of Bath, Truro, Plymouth & Gloucester are located, the number of properties available has dropped by 39% compared to last year.
Due to the imbalance between supply and demand, there is high competition between buyers for the homes available.
Glasgow is the most competitive city to buy a home, measured by number of people enquiring about each available property, followed by Stirling and Sheffield.
Exeter is the city competition hotspot, with competition more than doubling over the last year (+110%), the biggest increase of any city.
Lancaster is the second competition hotspots (+100%) and Worcester is third (+99%).
Tim Bannister, Rightmove’s Director of Property Data comments: “Since the pandemic started, we’ve been tracking interesting changes in buyers’ relationship with cities. In the first stages of the pandemic, we saw the popularity of some major cities like London temporarily drop as more people looked for more space. However, for other cities like Bath or Plymouth, which perhaps have easier access to the coast and countryside, we saw demand really soar when the market reopened in 2020. Initially, the supply of homes available kept up with some of this surge in demand, steadying asking prices.
“Now, we’re still seeing really high buyer demand for cities like Bath, Plymouth and Truro, but the number of new homes coming onto the market hasn’t been able to keep up with the buyers enquiring, which has led to asking prices accelerating over the last year.”
John O’Malley, CEO at Pacitti Jones in Glasgow, said: “The Glasgow property market is still very much in favour of the seller – and whilst it is great for those selling, it can be a turbulent experience for buyers. As we are seeing properties being snapped up in a week, understandably sellers are hesitant to bring their own property to the market until they have agreed the purchase of their next home. This is making it difficult to bring liquidity to the market and means that buyers are then missing out due to the numbers competing for the same property. As we are seeing 50 + viewers and offers being made within days for every property coming on the market, those without anything to sell are still able to move more quickly and therefore remain in favour. This lack of supply then results in more demand for available properties and inevitably means property prices in Glasgow remain high.”
City price hotspots
| Location | Region | Average Asking Price | Increase in average asking price year on YoY |
| Bath | South West | £558,018 | 15.0% |
| Truro | South West | £323,209 | 14.6% |
| Southend-On-Sea | East of England | £343,033 | 13.4% |
| Plymouth | South West | £231,914 | 12.5% |
| Gloucester | South West | £271,591 | 12.0% |
| Hereford | West Midlands | £255,631 | 12.0% |
| Wolverhampton | West Midlands | £200,057 | 11.8% |
| Norwich | East of England | £275,505 | 11.8% |
| Peterborough | East of England | £230,317 | 11.6% |
| Salford | North West | £211,904 | 11.3% |
City competition hotspots
| Location | Region | Average Asking Price | Increase in buyer competition on YoY |
| Exeter | South West | £307,519 | 110% |
| Lancaster | North West | £217,024 | 100% |
| Worcester | West Midlands | £271,292 | 99% |
| Carlisle | North West | £148,861 | 94% |
| York | Yorkshire and The Humber | £321,306 | 93% |
| Southampton | South East | £264,953 | 92% |
| Newcastle Upon Tyne | North East | £204,434 | 90% |
| Inverness | Scotland | £202,856 | 89% |
| Hull | Yorkshire and The Humber | £150,431 | 88% |
| Derby | East Midlands | £211,958 | 88% |
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