Countryside living driving supergroup house price growth during the pandemic

The latest research by homebuying platform, Yes Homebuyers, has revealed which property market supergroup has been most influenced by the pandemic where house price growth is concerned.

While it may sound like a bricks and mortar music act formed by Simon Cowell, supergroups are actually a designation given to each local authority based largely on factors concerning geography and population.

There are eight supergroups - affluent England, countryside living, ethnically diverse metropolitan living, London cosmopolitan, service and industrial legacy, town and country living, urban settlements and business, education and heritage centres.

Yes Homebuyers analysed house price growth across every supergroup local authority since the first case of Covid was reported in the UK at the end of January 2020, to see how the pandemic was impacting each segment of the market.

Country living is driving supergroup house prices

The research shows since the start of the pandemic house prices in England have increased by 8%, however, just two supergroups have seen above-average growth. Both countryside living and town and country living have seen house price growth exceed the national average at 8.8% and 8.4% respectively. A rate of growth that has no doubt been driven by the trend of homebuyers heading for the hills in search of bigger homes and more green space.

This house price performance has been driven by Ryedale (24.5%), the Derbyshire Dales (16.7%) and East Lindsey (16.3%) within the countryside living supergroup, and Melton (17.6%), South Staffordshire (15.1%) and Daventry (15%) within the town and country living supergroup.

How do the other supergroup property markets stack up?

The service and industrial legacy supergroup ranks third for pandemic house price performance. Largely located within the central belt of Scotland, northern England and south Wales, these supergroup locations are largely located in traditional mining areas. While the traditional mining industry may have all but disappeared, property values in these supergroup locations have increased by 7.6% since January of last year.

Business, education and heritage centres are the next best performing supergroup property markets as a whole, with pandemic house prices growth at 7%. These locations are largely based around bigger cities with a regional or national importance, suggesting the appetite for city living hasn’t completely vanished.

Urban settlements (6.7%), ethnically diverse metropolitan living (6.4%) and perhaps, surprisingly, affluent England (6%) have all seen house price growth since the start of the pandemic sit below 7%.