• Seaside town Salcombe is the most expensive place to buy a home in UK
• Average house in Devon resort costs £672,874 - a 9% increase on last year
• Exclusive area is home to celebrities such as Sir Michael Parkinson
• Sandbanks in Dorset came second with average house price of £614,726
By DAILY MAIL REPORTER
PUBLISHED: 00:39, 25 May 2015 | UPDATED: 09:10, 25 May 2015
With stunning scenery, excellent sailing and fresh seafood, Salcombe certainly sounds like an appealing place to live.
But all this comes at quite a price – as the popular spot in Devon has been found to be the most expensive seaside town in Britain in which to buy a home.
Houses in Salcombe typically cost £672,874 – a 9 per cent increase from last year’s average of £615,344. And the average value of a waterfront property in the town is now around £2million.
Salcombe in Devon is the most expensive seaside town in Britain with the average property costing £672, 874
The exclusive area – found to have the highest house prices in a study of 196 seaside towns – is home to celebrities such as broadcaster Sir Michael Parkinson.
The town also attracts wealthy buyers looking for a holiday house, and more than 40 per cent of properties there are second homes.
It is the second year the seaside town has been found to be the priciest in which to own a home.
BRITAIN'S PRICIEST RESORTS
Salcombe, Devon £672,874
Sandbanks, Dorset £614,726
Aldeburgh, Suffolk £413,393
Lymington, Hampshire £404,781
Dartmouth, Devon £403,767
Padstow, Cornwall £387,109
Lyme Regis, Dorset £343,604
Budleigh Salterton, Devon £342,442
Bigbury on Sea, Devon £333,626
East Wittering, Sussex £330,146
In 2014 estate agents dubbed it the UK's 'prime waterfront', with three-bedroom apartments on the water's edge costing as much as £1.7million.
By comparison, the cheapest seaside town was Newbiggin-by-the-Sea in Northumberland where the average house cost £84,000.
Sandbanks in Dorset, where properties cost an average of £614,726, came second in this year's study, carried out by Halifax.
Those dreaming of a seaside haven with a more manageable price tag may want to consider looking to Scotland, as eight of the ten least expensive seaside towns were north of the border.
Port Bannatyne, on the Isle of Bute, was the cheapest location, with homes costing £73,539 on average – meaning someone could snap up nine typical properties there for the price of just one in Salcombe.
In seaside towns generally, house prices have jumped by 31 per cent in a decade to £208,729.
It is the second year the Dorset town has been named as the most expensive in Britain. Above, a seven-bedroom cliff-side house which sold for £2.7million
Sandbanks in Dorset, where properties cost an average of £614,726, came second in the study
Sandbanks has long been a haven for wealthy home owners with streets on the peninsula nicknamed Millionaires Row.
Craig McKinlay, of Halifax, said: ‘Seaside towns have a distinct attraction, offering that all important sea view … There is a romance associated with living by the sea and this is evident in the high house prices.’
While a hike in house prices may is good for the small economies of thriving seaside towns, local people say they are at risk of being pushed out by wealthier buyers looking for second or third homes.
Last year, as Salcolmbe was named the most expensive place to live, the town's mayor told The Guardian native people were being pushed 'up the hill'.
'It's very difficult for locally born people, who have basically shifted up the hill.
'A lot of people in the area are in jobs that pay little more than minimum wage.'
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3095521/Salcombe-Devon-Britain-s-priciest-seaside-town.html#ixzz3dWAJZQDt
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