Salcombe feels bite of "City" bonuses.

As if by magic there was an article on "Times Online" yesterday outlining exactly my last post!

Apparently the huge reduction in city bonuses expected this year, down from £5.5 billion to £2 billion (a 60% fall) is hitting the property market of trendy seaside towns like Salcombe, nicknamed "the red trouser belt", very hard...

Over the past 10 years the average house price rise in these seaside towns is a staggering 287%!

The Times goes on to say:

"Top-performing towns in the red trouser belt are seaside resorts, such as Padstow and Rock in Cornwall and Salcombe in Devon, that are within a four-hour drive for a Friday night commute, typically made by City husbands visiting families left in the holiday home for much of the long summer holidays. The areas have also earned some notoriety by attracting hordes of underage drinkers from public schools."

I think the under age drinking tag that they have given Salcombe is a bit unfair, it's nothing like it was in the summers when I was growing up there and the average age in The Ferry was 15 & the average number of pints of "Tally Ho" consumed was also 15!!! Good old Bob.....

Salcombe House Prices Fall

I am quite amazed by this, it is the first time I have seen any significant drop in house prices in Salcombe for 20 years?? (I could be wrong?). This data is accurate as it is from the National Land Registry and covers the last year. Strange how terraced houses have bucked the trend by rising.....flat prices have dropped by a quarter!!!!

Detached House
Price £641,999
Annual Price Change -15.16%
No. Of Sales 11
National Average £352,484

Semi-Detached House
Price £511,500
Annual Price Change n/a
No. Of Sales 6
National Average £204,306

Terraced
Price £384,666
Annual Price Change 16.7%
No. Of Sales 3
National Average £181,863

Flat/Maisonette
Price £413,000
Annual Price Change -24.49%
No. Of Sales 8
National Average £209,042

Could this be the end for the Salcombe property market?

Lasers in Salcombe

Lasers in Salcombe
Originally uploaded by oo.devon

ooops....not the best place to capsize!

Come and see all my Salcombe photos over on "flickr"...

Feel free to download for wallpapers or whatever you want.

Salcombe & Totnes, Parallel Universes

I have never really thought about it before but just how opposite are Totnes and Salcombe!! Both great places and I could happily live in either, but when you look at it there is a huge difference!

Totnes is all about alternative living, eco-friendly life styles and self sufficiency. Salcombe is all about MONEY, second homes and designer shops!

This weekends article in the Telegraph gives you a great insight into Totnes and what it has to offer.

You have to admire Totnes for the way it is embracing a greener lifestyle and showing the rest of the country up, however the free and easy lifestyle does mask what many locals know is a underlying alternative lifestyle that involves drugs and an acceptance of drugs in the "alternative" way they live.

The ONE similarity between Totnes and Salcombe is HOUSE PRICES! It always comes back to the same thing in the UK and especially Devon. The proliferation and blatant grabbing of celebrity residents is hilarious with Totnes boasting the same residents as Salcombe/East Portlemouth....where do these people really live? Actually who really cares anyway....

If pushed to chose?? Give me Salcombe any day, it may have it's pompous side but it's rural/seaside living at it's ultimate best!

House Prices Still Rising in Salcombe and South Hams

I know it's a constant theme on here but it's one that amazes me! How can Salcombe get anymore expensive? Now I love Salcombe as much as anyone having lived my entire childhood in the area and on the estuary but what is happening now is crazy!

These are the last 3 months figures for the South Hams, a near enough 5% rise! I thought house prices were supposed to be coming down?

South Hams
Average Cost: £325,909
Detached: £432,316
Semi-detached: £262,753
Terraced: £230,045
Flat: £296,421

Change in last quarter: 4.7%
Change in last year: 11.6%
Sales: 544

I think the wealth attracted to the area is great and has ensured that Salcombe has remained a buoyant place, anyone that thinks Salcombe would have survived on just fishing and chandlery is living in a dream world, but soon it will only be the super rich who can buy property here. What makes Salcombe special is the mix of people who live, holiday and own second homes here, if it becomes a haven for the rich and famous we can kiss it goodbye as we know it...