Home buyers can expect to pay £68,000 on average for a sea view, study finds

Updated

Home buyers looking for properties with a view of the sea can expect to pay a typical £68,000 premium, analysis has found.

Homes in seaside towns which boast a sea view have a price tag which is £68,632 or 29% higher on average than properties in seaside towns where home owners cannot see the waves from their windows, according to Rightmove.

The analysis looked at all properties for sale under £1 million in seaside towns across mainland Britain, and found that the average asking price for a sea view is £304,702, compared with £236,070 for a home without one.

The highest price premium was found in Felixstowe in Suffolk, where a sea view could attract a 57% premium - meaning buyers could pay over £143,000 more on average.

Homes with a sea view in Hove were found to be the most costly, with an average asking price of £481,826.

Sea views
Sea views

Buyers searching for a sea view on a smaller budget may want to consider Morecambe, where the typical price tag for this is £144,401 - the least expensive price for a view of the sea in the study.

Around one in 14 (7%) of properties in the analysis of seaside towns had a sea view.

Properties boasting a sea view were found to be particularly clustered in Devon. The highest concentrations of these properties on Rightmove's website were found in Teignmouth and Paignton, where 30% and 29% of homes analysed in these areas respectively had a sea view.

Rightmove said "sea view" is one of the most popular searches in a keyword sort feature on its website, which makes it easier for house hunters to focus on properties which match up with specific requirements.

Miles Shipside, director of Rightmove, said sea views should be highlighted in photographs when seaside homes are advertised "so a prospective buyer can see just how great the views are before they book an appointment".

He continued: "Often, people will visit a town year after year for their staycation before deciding they would like to live there permanently.

"If it's totally out of their price range then it's worth looking at other seaside resorts around the UK that may suit them just as well, depending on their requirements, even if it means having to compromise on location.

"Our analysis removed any homes over £1 million so not to drive up the average prices in areas, but if you do take a look at the higher end of the market you'll find a number of waterside mansions in areas like Sandbanks and Salcombe that are up for sale for millions of pounds, and on the flipside houses in much cheaper resorts that are up for sale for as little as £150,000."

Only towns with a minimum of 50 listings for sale with a sea view were included in the findings.

Here are the highest premiums paid for a sea view in the study, according to Rightmove, with the average asking price for a home with a sea view followed by the average asking price for a home with no sea view and the percentage premium:

1. Felixstowe, Suffolk, £392,063, £248,987, 57%
2. Lytham St Annes, Lancashire, £325,530, £235,691, 38%
3. Folkestone, Kent, £307,490, £222,986, 38%
4. Penzance, Cornwall, £321,959, £237,206, 36%
5. Bournemouth, Dorset, £395,196, £292,431, 35%

And here are the most expensive towns for properties with a sea view according to Rightmove's analysis of properties with a price tag of under £1 million, with the average asking price for a home with a sea view followed by the average asking price for a home with no sea view and the asking price premium for a sea view:

1. Hove, East Sussex, £481,826, £431,208, 12%
2. Broadstairs, Kent, £456,041, £362,201, 26%
3. Poole, Dorset, £452,149, £364,239, 24%
4. Hythe, Kent, £447,456, £346,550, 29%
5. Whitstable, Kent, £429,857, £391,046, 10%

And here are the least expensive towns for properties with a sea view according to Rightmove's analysis of properties with a price tag of under £1 million, with the average asking price for a home with a sea view followed by the average asking price for a home with no sea view and the asking price premium for a sea view:

1. Morecambe, Lancashire, £144,401, £135,502, 7%
2. Cleethorpes, Lincolnshire, £169,543, £134,104, 26%
3. Scarborough, North Yorkshire, £196,262, £172,232, 14%
4. Portland, Dorset, £206,855, £204,082, 1%
5. Lowestoft, Suffolk, £206,943, £190,719, 9%

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