Housing crash seems far off as ‘hot huts’ sell out
Soaking up the sun at the seaside is often seen as the ultimate antidote to the stresses and strains of everyday life. And it just might be that the thriving sales of that most traditional of holiday accompaniments - the one-room wooden beach hut - is providing a similar shaft of light for the troubled property market in Britain.
A hut in the resort town of Southwold, Suffolk - something of a mecca for devotees - has recently sold for £80,000, according to a local estate agent. Speaking to the Daily Mail, Roseanne Green at Durrants said that the cabin was originally on sale for £65,000, but that the price was increased due to their being "so many bids" for it.
As well as testifying to the continuing British attachment to the joys of the bucket, spade and windbreak, the high cost of the beach front property also shows that there are some professional homebuyers who are still able to spend big on their dream home - or hut - if the location is attractive enough. "There's always a demand for huts at Southwold, where there are three prime areas," Ms Green explained.
Needless to say, news of brisk trading in costly cabins is also a far cry from the gloomy predictions of a housing crash which have haunted many homeowners holding mortgages for professionals recently. The International Monetary Fund, for example, recently said that housing stock in the UK was overpriced by as much as 30 per cent overall - and Halifax's latest house price index showed a 2.5 per cent drop in property costs for March.
Nevertheless, evidence suggests that house prices, far from dropping in every area in the country, have actually held up in some places - and not just in those that contain beach huts!
Of course, the ultimate house price hotspot in the UK remains the nation's capital, London. Indeed, hidden in the small print of the Halifax research was the revelation that, despite sharp falls elsewhere, prices in the city have actually increased by 1.6 per cent in the last quarter. Moreover, homes in 'hot' areas which attract professionals such as solicitors and dentists seem to be doing better. In fact, research from property information website mouseprice.net revealed last month that, in some privileged enclaves, property costs remain eye-watering.
Homes in Highgate's exclusive Courtenay Avenue were found by the firm to have an average value of £6.8 million - with Chelsea Square and Manresa Road in SW3 both also topping £6 million. According to Halifax, however, the average home price in the capital is a much more affordable - though still pricey - £305,000.
However, one example of the astonishingly high cost of certain prime location properties seems unlikely to be topped, price slowdown or no price slowdown. This is the 62 square foot converted store cupboard in upscale Notting Hill which went on the market for rent three years ago as a "tiny but trendy" flat. Its cost? Yours for £135 a week.
A hut in the resort town of Southwold, Suffolk - something of a mecca for devotees - has recently sold for £80,000, according to a local estate agent. Speaking to the Daily Mail, Roseanne Green at Durrants said that the cabin was originally on sale for £65,000, but that the price was increased due to their being "so many bids" for it.
As well as testifying to the continuing British attachment to the joys of the bucket, spade and windbreak, the high cost of the beach front property also shows that there are some professional homebuyers who are still able to spend big on their dream home - or hut - if the location is attractive enough. "There's always a demand for huts at Southwold, where there are three prime areas," Ms Green explained.
Needless to say, news of brisk trading in costly cabins is also a far cry from the gloomy predictions of a housing crash which have haunted many homeowners holding mortgages for professionals recently. The International Monetary Fund, for example, recently said that housing stock in the UK was overpriced by as much as 30 per cent overall - and Halifax's latest house price index showed a 2.5 per cent drop in property costs for March.
Nevertheless, evidence suggests that house prices, far from dropping in every area in the country, have actually held up in some places - and not just in those that contain beach huts!
Of course, the ultimate house price hotspot in the UK remains the nation's capital, London. Indeed, hidden in the small print of the Halifax research was the revelation that, despite sharp falls elsewhere, prices in the city have actually increased by 1.6 per cent in the last quarter. Moreover, homes in 'hot' areas which attract professionals such as solicitors and dentists seem to be doing better. In fact, research from property information website mouseprice.net revealed last month that, in some privileged enclaves, property costs remain eye-watering.
Homes in Highgate's exclusive Courtenay Avenue were found by the firm to have an average value of £6.8 million - with Chelsea Square and Manresa Road in SW3 both also topping £6 million. According to Halifax, however, the average home price in the capital is a much more affordable - though still pricey - £305,000.
However, one example of the astonishingly high cost of certain prime location properties seems unlikely to be topped, price slowdown or no price slowdown. This is the 62 square foot converted store cupboard in upscale Notting Hill which went on the market for rent three years ago as a "tiny but trendy" flat. Its cost? Yours for £135 a week.
