Oxford, city of spires, loses homebuyers

When Sally and Roger Watkins put their three-bedroom townhouse in south Oxford on the market in July, they felt optimistic. It was roomy, relatively new and came with space for two cars in a city that is notoriously short of parking.

After six weeks they had had only two viewings. Fortunately, one produced an offer. The Watkins plan to retire this year and were keen to buy a smaller house outside the city to start their new life. “It was not the full asking price, but we were happy to accept,” says Sally.

The city, with the medieval Oxford university at its heart, has long been a popular tourist destination, and has become a hub for science and tech businesses.

Prices for Oxford’s smartest homes — mostly the roomy Victorian properties in the northern parts of the city, or the pretty terraces of Jericho closer to the centre — rose rapidly in the years following its recovery from the global financial crisis of 2008. Gains were driven, at least in part, by wealthy buyers leaving London. Trains to Paddington station, some 50 miles east of Oxford, only take about an hour.

Now, however, Oxford’s proximity to the London property market has affected its house prices. In the two years to February, average prices fell 0.1 per cent, according to the Zoopla Cities House Price Index.

“The London market pain has transferred to Oxford,” says Charles Wellbelove, who runs the Oxfordshire prime homes division of Hamptons International. “You chat to people socially and everyone says the market is dreadful — that is unprecedented for Oxford.”

The city’s high house prices are partly to blame, but estate agents point to the paucity of homes for sale — something the Watkins understand. It took the couple months of searching to find the right place — they eventually settled on a home in Garsington, a small village about six miles south-east of Oxford. Sally searched Rightmove every day — “It was desperately boring,” she says.

Sandra McCahill, 68, a retired educational consultant, is selling her home in Kidlington, a village about three miles north of Summertown, a plush neighbourhood in northern Oxford. She has sold several houses over the past few years, typically living in them while renovating them.

But this one has been her toughest yet. “A few buyers have come back two or three times to look. But people can’t seem to make their minds up,” she says.

McCahill blames a lack of wealthy overseas buyers in Oxford. “Three to four years ago, you could sell anything in the centre of Summertown to a Russian or a Chinese [buyer]. Now they have just left the market,” she says.

In North Oxford, Savills is selling a six-bedroom house on St Margaret’s Road for £2.95m. Nearby on Northmoor Road, the same agent is selling a three-bedroom, ground-floor apartment for £975,000.

The appeal of the neighbourhoods of North Oxford and neighbouring Summertown for foreign buyers and Brits alike is the high concentration of well-respected private schools, including St Edward’s, The Dragon and Summer Fields. “The major driver for any London buyer will be school-related — and the schools tend to be private rather than state,” says Wellbelove.

He estimates the best homes in northern Oxford have fallen in price by up to 10 per cent from their market peak in the second half of 2014. He says that the second-home tax, introduced in 2016, cut the number of London movers who were happy to buy in Oxford before selling in London, comfortable that they could rent until the right offer came along.

Tougher mortgage affordability tests introduced in 2017 also contributed to the slowdown, he says. “And, of course, Brexit has had an effect.”

“[The delay over] Brexit has absolutely driven me insane,” says McCahill. Since the December general election, Oxford has seen a small increase in prices: the Zoopla index showed average prices up 1 per cent in February on the year before.

However, without a sustained rise in the number of homes being put up for sale in the city, a market recovery seems a long way off.

Buying guide

• In the 12 months to November last year, there were 351 sales of homes priced above £500,000 in Oxford; down 13 per cent on the same period a year before
• Regular trains connect Oxford with Paddington in about an hour
• At £640 per sq ft, the average price for a prime Oxford property is about 47 per cent cheaper than a prime London home

What you can buy for . . .

£850,000 A three-bedroom, ground-floor apartment near The Dragon School
£1.35m A five-bedroom modern townhouse on Banbury Road
£5m A six-bedroom detached house in North Oxford

More at propertylistings.ft.com

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