Research underlines ‘enduring appeal’ of Dorset

As Savills Wimborne office marks its 75th anniversary in the town, the firm has looked at how the local property market has performed over the years.

Research from Savills using Land Registry as far back as possible, shows mainstream house prices throughout Dorset have increased by 339% in the last 24 years, with the last three years alone seeing an 18% increase.

In the 12 months to July this year, the average house price for the county of Dorset was £384,640, outperforming the wider South West region, which saw an average sale price of £343,900. By contrast, the average sale price for the county of Dorset in the 12 months to July 1998 was £87,500.

One of the parts of the county which has seen the greatest increase in house prices is Bradpole, near Bridport, which has an average house price of £427,200 (to end of July 2022). Here, there has been an increase of 364% since 1999, when the average sale price was £92,098. The parish of Lychett Minster and Upton was not far behind, with an increase of 346% over the same period, from £80,993 in 1999 to £360,994 this year.

In the prime housing market (broadly the top 5-10% by value), the wider south region has recorded price growth of 1,181% since 1979, according to the firm’s prime regional index. Over the last two years, there has been 12% growth in prime house prices in the Wimborne area.

Ashley Rawlings of Savills Wimborne said: “Dorset has certainly attracted many buyers as a result of the pandemic and the desire for more space and proximity to the countryside. But what this latest research underlines is the area’s enduring appeal; the popularity of Wimborne and the wider Dorset area is that it offers a fantastic lifestyle, particularly for families, with a wealth of excellent schooling options as well as beautiful rolling countryside and, of course, the Jurassic coastline.

“While the area has long been desirable, no one could have predicted the exceptional demand for property over the last few years, or indeed that this would continue for so long after the last lockdown. However, it was inevitable that the incredible level of interest in moving house and the associated price growth would need to return to a less frenetic pace in the long term and we are starting to see market conditions changing.”

Looking ahead, over the next 12 months