Surfers are pushing up house prices

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by Kay Murchie

Properties situated near to surfing destinations are tempting buyers who are keen to spend time surfing. The pastime has moved from student and teenagers to middle-aged professionals who are escaping the stress of the boardroom and heading for the beach at the weekends.

Estate agents in Wales and Cornwall say that the attraction of the sea is helping push the property markets in both regions. Gloria Thomas, a sales negotiator in Mumbles for John Francis, said the town is becoming a surfing goldmine.

Mrs Thomas added that Mumbles and the West Coast have seen the highest property price rise in the UK, second only to prices in Southern England. Expats, people who grew up in Mumbles and Gower but went to college in England and elsewhere and ended up working away, now want to return. Those in their 50s are looking to retire here.

Gower was the first place in Britain to be designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and is fringed by some of the UK’s cleanest and most attractive beaches. Llangennith beach, at the furthest tip of the peninsula, is one of Britain’s best surf hotspots.

According to the Halifax, Porthcawl, another Welsh surfing hotspot, prices have seen some of the sharpest rises of any of Britain’s seaside towns in the last 2 years.