There has been a notable increase in buyer demand for smaller properties in city centres, according to Rightmove.

Over the past year bigger family homes were the strongest performers in the market, but the property website reports that this has now shifted to flats, which saw the biggest jump in demand when comparing April with January, an uplift of 39%.

Buyer demand is measured by the number of people contacting estate agents to request more details about a property for sale on Rightmove.

The easing of covid restrictions has increased the appeal of living in a city centre, with some cities seeing buyer demand jump as high as 76% in York city centre, followed by a 62% increase in Norwich and a 57% rise in Sheffield.

The average jump in buyer demand for homes in some of the biggest city centres across Great Britain stood at 35% in April compared to January. This compares to a 32% increase in prospective purchasers looking to move to a village.

Similarly, if you look at all urban locations and all rural locations across Great Britain, the growth in buyer demand for urban locations is now outperforming the growth in rural areas for the first time since before the pandemic started.

In London, the local areas further out are still seeing the biggest increases in demand, but overall the inner London boroughs are only slightly behind the outer London boroughs.

Inner London saw a jump of 30% in buyer demand compared with January, while outer London is up by 34%.

Meanwhile, the introduction in April of the government’s 95% mortgage guarantee scheme coupled with a virtual standstill for prices in many of these city centres has combined to help more first-time buyers get onto the property ladder.

A new study by Rightmove among over 1,000 first-time buyers has found that just under one in five (17%) are planning to use the 95% mortgage guarantee scheme or are already using it.

Just under two thirds of first-time buyers surveyed – 60% – said that they have been able to save more money towards their deposit over the past year due to the various lockdowns. Over half of them – 53% – said this meant they were going to put down a bigger deposit, while over a third – 37% – said it meant they could now buy sooner than they were originally planning to.

The study also found that the desire to move to a quieter location that has been a trend driving a number of local markets over the past year is not as appealing to first-time buyers.

Rightmove’s Tim Bannister said: “These are early signs but they certainly point to some good news for city centres across Great Britain, with a number of agents now telling me they’ve seen a marked uptick in demand from first-time buyers, and they’re managing to sell city centre flats more quickly than in earlier months of the year.

“People starting to venture in to their local high streets and once again experiencing the buzz of their city centres, along with greater mortgage availability for first-time buyers, means city centres are staging a much-needed comeback in the market.

“Right now some buyers are able to grab a relative city bargain compared to the heady price growth outside cities, but these early signs of demand could be the start of city prices rising again, so for those home-hunters who have their sights set on a city centre flat now is the time to see what’s available.”

Increase in buyer demand by property type, April 2021 versus January 2021

Asking price change in City Centres, April 2021 versus January 2021

Increase in buyer demand, April 2021 versus January 2021