Bargain hunters pounce on holiday homes as owners feel pinch

Scores of second-home owners hit by the economic downturn have decided to sell up, bringing an unexpected vibrancy to the property market in the country's favourite beauty spots.

Estate agents operating near the coast or in picturesque rural locations are reporting a sharp increase in sales and deals last month. Bargain hunters are snapping up houses that two years ago they were unable to afford or which rarely came on to the market. The trend is expected to continue as buy-to-let owners seek to convert their assets to cash.

Savills has reported that in July its Southampton office, which specialises in properties in the New Forest, along the Solent and in the Isle of Wight, had the best month in takings since the branch opened five years ago.

The firm's Truro office has sold four houses, each worth more than £1million, in less than a week. Lillicrap Chilcott, which specialises in waterside homes in Cornwall, clinched a sale almost every day last month. Holidaymakers have also spotted “For Sale” boards along cliff roads or in popular resorts such as St Ives, Cornwall, and Aldeburgh, Suffolk, where before-sales were conducted more discreetly... more>