HOUSE sales in the district are booming, despite property prices increasing.

Lifestyle changes driven by the pandemic are encouraging buyers, which has led to large percentage increases in mid Essex.

Research compiled by Savills estate agents shows 4,020 properties were sold subject to contract in the Braintree district in 2021.

That was a rise of 30.6 per cent when compared to 2019 – the last time agents say the housing market experienced more usual trading conditions, with lockdown forcing a temporary slowdown for part of 2020.

At the top end of the market, the number of homes sold subject to contract with a price-tag of more than £1million doubled in Essex – rising from 699 in 2019 to 1,431 in 2021.

The Braintree district saw an 84.2 per cent increase in this area, from 38 sold in 2019 to 70 in 2021.

The increase in house sales in the district comes at a time where the average house prices in the district has also gone up.

The impact of the coronavirus pandemic, which prevented house sales during the first lockdown, coupled with stamp duty holidays, has boosted the housing market across the UK since the world opened back up in 2020.

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Karl Manning, head of residential sales at Savills Essex, said: “The level of demand over the last 18 months or so has been phenomenal – and probably, honestly, taken us all a little by surprise. Every time we thought the market might slow a little we were proven wrong.

“The lifestyle factors that motivated people to move after the first lockdown – the need for more space, an increase in home working and the desire to be close to the coast or countryside – continued throughout the year and the market just kept getting busier and busier.

He added: “Less travel for work has led to a definite uptick in interest for homes in the Braintree district and Colne Valley, as well as a move to villages around Colchester with its excellent schooling, links to the A12 and large collection of period homes proving a particular draw.”

Mr Manning said an imbalance between supply and demand meant there were not enough properties on the market to meet buyers’ needs.

“This has created fierce competition among buyers and in many cases properties have been selling within days for considerably more than the guide price,” he said.

Office for National Statistics figures show the average house price in the district hit £305,000 in the year to June – up £17,500 from 12 months ago. House prices were also above pre-pandemic levels.

The areas in the Braintree district that saw the highest average house prices in the year to June were Bures Hamlet, Maplestead and the Belchamps, Panfield, Finchingfield and Bardfield, Coggeshall and Kelvedon, Braintree West and Rayne, and Steeple Bumpstead and Great Yeldham.

The area recording the lowest average house price was Halstead Central and West, where homes sold for around £245,000 in 2020-21.