This sector of the property market just gets busier, with estate agents reporting lengthy waiting lists and a real shortage of top market homes to meet the increasing demand.
Ross Sedgley, associate director at Hopkinsons estate agents, said that properties in the million pounds and above price bracket continue to shift quickly.
He said: “We are seeing more people moving to this area from London, and from other cities, who may now be able to work from home and so have the option to move further afield. This has been a noticeable trend since the end of the pandemic.
“Homes of that price that are within easy reach of popular schools are particularly sought after, as are the properties within the villages surrounding Harrogate.
“People tend to want good family homes with gardens, and space that they can adapt to what they want. There’s a shortage of these kind of properties and, it must be said, with housing stock in general.”
He continued: “Another trend we are seeing is more people downsizing, for a variety of reasons including, for some, the cost of living and energy bills.
“Older people who find themselves in too large properties when children have moved away look towards apartments, and these do well typically in the £6-800,000 mark.”
Savills report lack of housing stock as a continuing issue, with more than half of buyers pointing out that a lack of stock is significantly inhibiting their ability to purchase a property.
They report this as being most pronounced at the top end of the market with more than 88 per cent of those people who are looking to purchase a home priced above £1 million, hindered by a lack of suitable properties.
James Wort, director at Strutt and Parker, Harrogate, said: “One to two million pounds properties are our core market with prices having risen by 25 per cent in the last year.
“People are seeking four or five-bed detached houses near to the schools and close to the town centre in Harrogate.
“Open plan is popular, with gardens, garages, and a study or place in which to work from home as priorities.
“People also look for annexes that they can maybe rent out as a revenue stream.
“It’s a busy market in general,”
John Wilkinson of Linley and Simpson said: “We receive many enquiries when we market properties in the one to two million pounds price range.
” Families and couples who moved away and have lived in London for several years, then want to come back, can sell an apartment down there for big money and buy a larger property here instead.
“Harrogate attracts a wide variety of people.”
High end properties with gardens, and close to open countryside, have been seen to boom in popularity following the pandemic, but the tradition of Yorkshire people wanting to return to their home county after some years away is long standing.
