Five years on from the first Covid lockdown new data from Rightmove reveals a sharp reversal in the housing market trends that defined the pandemic era – with coastal homes taking significantly longer to sell and interest in city living on the rise once more.
During the height of lockdown, buyer priorities shifted towards open space, remote working and lifestyle-led moves.
Cornwall famously overtook London as the most searched-for location on Rightmove in March 2021 – a historic first.
Back then, fewer than half (47%) of London-based home hunters were planning to stay in the capital.
TIDE HAS TURNED
Now, the tide has turned. London is once again the most searched-for location on Rightmove, and 58% of buyers living in the capital are looking to remain there – the clearest sign yet that the post-pandemic “race for space” has eased.
Meanwhile, the coastal market has cooled. The average time it takes to find a buyer for a home by the sea has jumped from 52 days in 2021 to 73 days in 2025. By contrast, London properties now sell just slightly slower than five years ago, taking 65 days on average compared to 63.
SEASIDE PRICE GROWTH SLOWS
The report, which analysed over 100 coastal areas across Britain, shows that the market has also normalised in terms of pricing.
In March 2021, seaside property prices were rising almost twice as fast as the national average, climbing 4.5% year-on-year compared to 2.7% across Great Britain.
In 2025, coastal price growth has slowed to just 1% – now closely aligned with the national average – as increased supply has eased competition among buyers.
FIRST-TIME BUYERS
While average first-home asking prices have increased by 17% since March 2020 (from £195,463 to £227,965), average wages have risen 30% over the same period. In theory, this should improve affordability, with buyers now able to borrow more relative to property prices.
But affordability pressures remain acute. Average rents have soared 42% since 2020 – outpacing wage growth – making it harder for aspiring homeowners to save for deposits. And borrowing has become significantly more expensive: the average 5-year fixed mortgage rate is now 4.73%, up from just 2.15% five years ago.
As a result, the average monthly mortgage payment for a first-time buyer with a 20% deposit has jumped from £590 to £949.
SPACE STILL SELLS
Despite a cooling market, buyer preferences for more space remain. Detached and semi-detached homes have seen the strongest price growth over the past five years, while flats have seen more modest increases.
Search behaviour on Rightmove suggests consistency in demand for features related to size and lifestyle. In the rental market, tenants continue to prioritise pet-friendly homes, while demand for “bills included” rentals – which surged during the energy crisis – has dropped out of the top five most-searched terms.
TREND REVERSAL
Steve Pimblett, Rightmove’s Chief Data Officer says: “Five years on from the pandemic, many short-term trends brought about by the unique circumstances of lockdown have reversed.
“Coastal homes are taking longer to find buyers and price growth has stabilised as more supply has come onto the market, some likely from movers heading back to the city.
“At the same time, fewer people are looking to escape cities, as life has returned to normal, and the debate continues about remote versus office working.”
HOME WORKING
Nathan Emerson, Chief Executive of Propertymark, adds: “Directly following the pandemic, many people saw the home working revolution as a potential opportunity to pursue a new or different lifestyle, often away from traditional town and city centres, as there was little need to be present within a physical office location five days a week.
“As time has progressed, substantial numbers of employers are now starting to ask their employees to make a return to centralised office locations, thus reversing the trend of five years ago for many people, and they are choosing metropolitan areas once again where there are likely better transport links and a more competitive jobs market in many cases.”
