Ten years on: More first-time buyers moving to cities while the coast stands still
- New ten-year analysis of the property market shows that more first-time buyers are looking to move to cities, while the coast has seen no growth in new buyers
- First-time buyer demand to move to Great Britain’s 50 largest cities (excluding London) is up by 16% on average over the last ten years, with Dundee topping the list, followed by Edinburgh:
- London does not follow this trend, with higher property prices a factor
- By contrast, analysis of 50 of the most popular coastal areas shows that first-time buyer demand is completely flat compared with ten years ago
New analysis from the UK’s largest property platform Rightmove shows that more first-time buyers are looking to move to cities, while demand from first-time buyers into coastal areas has stood still.
The analysis looked between January and May 2025, compared with the same period in 2015, and measured enquiries for typical first-time buyer properties (measured by 0-2 bedroom homes). The study compared 50 of the largest cities across Great Britain (excluding London), with 50 of the largest and most popular coastal areas based on volume of buyer enquiries.
Over the last ten years, on average, the number of potential first-time buyers looking to move to cities is up by 16%, though this varies significantly between cities.
Dundee has seen the most significant jump in first-time buyer enquiries, nearly tripling over the last ten years (+176%), followed by Edinburgh (+91%) and Doncaster (74%).
By contrast, on average, the number of future first-time buyers looking to move to popular coastal areas is completely flat compared with ten years ago.
London as a whole does not follow the city trend, with overall first-time buyer demand in London down by 7% versus ten years ago, with higher asking prices a likely contributor.
Both the city and coastal locations analysed have increased in price by 41% over the last decade on average.
Colleen Babcock, Rightmove’s property expert says: “We’ve seen a number of changes to the property market over the last ten years. Perhaps most notably is during the pandemic, when many people temporarily left cities and looked to the coast or countryside.
“Comparing where we are now versus a decade ago, it looks like there’s even more appeal from potential first-time buyers to live in cities, though the data does show that it can vary quite widely from city to city, and it will also depend how first-time buyer friendly a particular location is in terms of the type of homes that are available for sale.
“Coastal areas haven’t seen the same level of growth as cities from this type of buyer, and again it may be partly due to the availability of suitable homes in these areas for first-time buyers as well as affordability.”
City hotspots
| Location | Change in first-time buyer demand 2025 vs 2015
(0-2 bedroom homes) |
| Dundee | +176% |
| Edinburgh | +91% |
| Doncaster | +74% |
| Liverpool | +73% |
| Plymouth | +71% |
| Glasgow | +65% |
| Preston | +63% |
| Winchester | +51% |
| Newcastle Upon Tyne | +38% |
| Newport, South Wales | +29% |
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