Software supplier Alto has used estate agent data to compile a league table of investment locations on the UK coast.
Southwold in Suffolk is the best seaside town, after average property values rose 94% in ten years, from £231,236 in 2016 to £448,106 in 2026.
Second is the longstanding wealthy enclave of Sandbanks in Dorset, which saw a 93% rise.
Saltburn-by-the-Sea in North Yorkshire was third with prices up 75%.
The rest of the top ten were:
- Croyde, Devon (up 68%);
- West Wittering, West Sussex (up 63%);
- Padstow, Cornwall (up 60%);
- Falmouth, Cornwall (up 59%);
- Burnham Market, Norfolk (up 56%);
- Margate, Kent (up 54%);
- Salcombe, Devon (up 53%).
The software firm says rental values rose by similar amounts.
Every location in the top ten saw average property values rise by more than 50% in a decade.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Cornwall and Devon have two towns each in the top ten.
Alto chief executive Riccardo Iannucci-Dawson says the long-term pull of the British coast is still strong.
He comments: “Prices shot up for seaside homes during Covid as people looked to escape cities for a simpler life.
“There was a correction after that and holiday home taxes in the form of punitive second home council tax charges in some popular areas have also affected the market.
“But global warming is making many parts of Europe too hot in the summer and British coastal resorts are an increasingly attractive option for many holidaymakers.”
