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Bristol Post
Bristol Post
National
Ellie Kendall

Bristol beaten for title of most popular city to live by four others in the south west

Bristol hasn't made it to the top 10 of a list of 'most popular cities to live' and has instead been beaten by four other cities in the south west.

In a list created from new data by Rightmove, the property website looked at the change in asking prices for properties in cities across the country and who should come out on top - only our rivals Bath! The city known for its Roman spa is the top city price hotspot across Great Britain, according to the research, with asking prices rising more than 15% over the last year - more than any other city.

The other cities in the south west to beat us were Truro in Cornwall, Plymouth in Devon and Gloucester. Truro is even the second city asking price hotspot, with a rise of 14.8% in asking prices over the past year, but Gloucester came fifth (rising 12%).

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Tim Bannister, Rightmove’s Director of Property Data said: “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.”

There's been an average growth of 12.6% in the top ten city hotspots and this outpaces the national asking price growth of 9.9% as demand outstrips supply, the data states. Cities near coastal regions and the countryside have seen the strongest price growth, as buyers balance wanting city amenities and being near to work, with a desire for more space.

Over the last year, the number of buyers enquiring to move to many cities has outweighed the homes available and, as the demand and supply mismatch continues, Glasgow is the city with the highest competition to buy a home, followed by Stirling and Sheffield. While competition has increased the most in Exeter over the last year, more than doubling (up 110%), followed by Lancaster (up 100%) and Worcester (up 99%).

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.

City price hotspots - top 10 (location, region, average asking price, increase in average asking price year on year)

  1. Bath - South West - £558,018 - 15%
  2. Truro - South West - £323,209 - 14.6%
  3. Southend-On-Sea - East of England - £343033 - 13.4%
  4. Plymouth - South West - £231,914 - 12.5%
  5. Gloucester - South West - £271,591 - 12%
  6. Hereford - West Midlands - £255,631 - 12%
  7. Wolverhampton - West Midlands - £200,057 - 11.8%
  8. Norwich - East of England - £275,505 - 11.7%
  9. Peterborough - East of England - £230,317 - 11.6%
  10. Salford - North West - £211,904 - 11.3%

City competition hotspots - top 10 (location, region, average asking price, increase in buyer competition year on year)

  1. Exeter - South West - £307,519 - 110%
  2. Lancaster - North West - £217,024 - 100%
  3. Worcester - West Midlands - £271,292 - 99%
  4. Carlisle - North West - £148,861 - 94%
  5. York - Yorkshire and Humber - £321,306 - 93%
  6. Southampton - South East - £264,953 - 92%
  7. Newcastle Upon Tyne - North East - £204,434 - 90%
  8. Inverness - Scotland - £202,856 - 89%
  9. Hull - Yorkshire and The Humber - £150,431 - 88%
  10. Derby - East Midlands - £211,958 - 88%

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