The number of million-pound homes sold in Oxfordshire has more than doubled in the past year.
It comes after the Oxford Mail yesterday revealed there is now a five-year wait for council houses in the city.
In 2006, 111 homes in the county were sold for more than £1m - up from just 51 in the previous year.
There were 23 homes in Oxford that fetched a seven-figure sum, with the most expensive areas in North Oxford, Summertown and Park Town.
Last year's sales brought the total number of seven-figure deals in Oxfordshire to 412 since 2001.
In the last 12 months alone, property giant Savills has sold 19 properties that have been in seven figures.
advertisement
Savills spokesman Helen Hutt said: "City bonuses in London are definitely contributing to the rise in house prices in Oxford.
"There is also a real shortage of good property within the city. That's why when properties do come up, there is such a demand.
"Oxford is also restricted by the availability of land, so there aren't that many new developments."
However, one new development that is springing up within the city is the Oxford Waterfront project by Berkeley Homes.
The luxury apartments and penthuses in Jericho have proved so popular, that they have already sold one penthouse for over £1m before it has even been completed.
Rameen Firoozan, managing director of Berkeley Homes, said: "It's a market place and if people feel that the houses that I'm building aren't good value for money, then they will vote with their feet and stop buying them.
"Having said that, 40 to 50 per cent of the homes we build are low cost affordable social housing."
While many see the rise in house prices as a good thing, for some the news is hard to stomach.
Amanda West, 37, who featured in yesterday's Oxford Mail, has been waiting for a council house for eight years and currently lives in a three bedroom house with her partner and four children.
She said: "If I had a million pounds, I'd buy a whole row of houses and open it up for homeless people to live in. Not just buy one house."
City councillor Patrick Murray, 26, says the cause of the rise in prices in Oxford is down to people relocating to the area from London.
He said: "People are moving to Oxford from London, on far higher wages and can afford to spend that kind of money on a house. Because jobs in Oxford don't pay as much they drive up the price.
"I can't say I'm very happy about it as a person born and raised in Oxford, who hopes to one day buy a house. Mr Murray added: "With prices the way they are, I'd have to rob a bank."
Posted by: Tony Brett, Oxford on 8:30am Tue 3 Apr 07
The reason prices have gone through the roof is that so much property is now bought-to-let. I live on the new Berkeley Homes Estate in East Oxford and it's a great estate but out of hundreds of homes here you can count the owner-occupiers on your fingers. That's why the prices are so high: Greedy landlords are effectively keeping hoardes of todays young people in the trap of being unsecured private tenants just so they can line their own pockets.
Berkeley Homes even have sales evenings especially aimed at buy-to-let investors.
The price increase is nothing to with people wanting to move to Oxford to live here - they simply buy property here so they can milk the people of Oxford dry with extortionate rents.
What really grates is that most of the landlords don't live anywhere near the City and have little or no interest in the neighbourhoods of which they have just bought vast swathes.
It's not the tenants that are the problem it's the greedy investors.
I would like to see a huge tax burden on buy-to-let owners, that could go straight back to local authorities and enable them to provide a decent amount of affordable housing for people on average wages in Oxford.
The reason prices have gone through the roof is that so much property is now bought-to-let. I live on the new Berkeley Homes Estate in East Oxford and it's a great estate but out of hundreds of homes here you can count the owner-occupiers on your fingers. That's why the prices are so high: Greedy landlords are effectively keeping hoardes of todays young people in the trap of being unsecured private tenants just so they can line their own pockets.
Berkeley Homes even have sales evenings especially aimed at buy-to-let investors.
The price increase is nothing to with people wanting to move to Oxford to live here - they simply buy property here so they can milk the people of Oxford dry with extortionate rents.
What really grates is that most of the landlords don't live anywhere near the City and have little or no interest in the neighbourhoods of which they have just bought vast swathes.
It's not the tenants that are the problem it's the greedy investors.
I would like to see a huge tax burden on buy-to-let owners, that could go straight back to local authorities and enable them to provide a decent amount of affordable housing for people on average wages in Oxford.
Posted by: Robert Warner, Henley-on-Thames on 9:53am Tue 3 Apr 07
My sons cannot afford to buy their own houses yet but they are able to rent. If there were a massive tax on buy-to-let owners, this would simply be reflected in increased rents and their ability to live near their work would be removed. In addition, I certainly would not trust any council of whatever political hue to use any taxes raised in this way appropriately or effectively to provide cheap housing - it just would not happen. The one thing that councils and government excel at is wasting tax payers money! They fail miserably in concentrating on providing the basic services in a timely and cost effective way with the minimum of bureaucracy - collecting rubbish fortnightly is just one current example.
My sons cannot afford to buy their own houses yet but they are able to rent. If there were a massive tax on buy-to-let owners, this would simply be reflected in increased rents and their ability to live near their work would be removed. In addition, I certainly would not trust any council of whatever political hue to use any taxes raised in this way appropriately or effectively to provide cheap housing - it just would not happen. The one thing that councils and government excel at is wasting tax payers money! They fail miserably in concentrating on providing the basic services in a timely and cost effective way with the minimum of bureaucracy - collecting rubbish fortnightly is just one current example.
Posted by: Tony Brett, Oxford on 10:44am Tue 3 Apr 07
But Robert, if you make renting more expensive it will be less attractive so fewer will do it and there will be fewer properties effectively taken out of the market by buy-to-let. That will increase the number of properties available to buy so the rules of supply and demand will make the purchase prices of properties become more realistic.
Robert - people like your sons may then be able to afford to buy.
It is precisely because people can afford to rent but not buy that the housing market in Oxford is in the over-inflated state that it is. I'm not blaming those that can only afford to rent but if renting was less attractive then I believe the whole market would readjust and we might move closer to a situation where more property in Oxford is actually owned by its occupants. That can only be good for community building and a greater sense of pride and ownership of the local community by its members.
But Robert, if you make renting more expensive it will be less attractive so fewer will do it and there will be fewer properties effectively taken out of the market by buy-to-let. That will increase the number of properties available to buy so the rules of supply and demand will make the purchase prices of properties become more realistic.
Robert - people like your sons may then be able to afford to buy.
It is precisely because people can afford to rent but not buy that the housing market in Oxford is in the over-inflated state that it is. I'm not blaming those that can only afford to rent but if renting was less attractive then I believe the whole market would readjust and we might move closer to a situation where more property in Oxford is actually owned by its occupants. That can only be good for community building and a greater sense of pride and ownership of the local community by its members.
I agree with TB re the proliferation of private landlords. There has been a massive influx of these in recent years - over 50% of the road I live in has passed to private landlords. The rented houses have far too many occupants and the whole area is awash with vehicles damaging the footpaths & verges and obstructing driveways. Many occupants are students - why are the two universities not providing accommodation for their hordes?
I agree with TB re the proliferation of private landlords. There has been a massive influx of these in recent years - over 50% of the road I live in has passed to private landlords. The rented houses have far too many occupants and the whole area is awash with vehicles damaging the footpaths & verges and obstructing driveways. Many occupants are students - why are the two universities not providing accommodation for their hordes?
I lived in Oxford for 12 years but was forced to move away due to the cost of living. I was paying over £800 pound a month on a 2 bed flat yet I could not get a mortgage to cover even the cheapest property Oxford has to offer. I have moved to Cardiff were the house prices are affordable but I would love to go back to Oxford but I do not feel I will ever be able to afford this.
I agree with Tony on taxing lanlords as they are ripping the people of Oxford off and stopping them being able to buy.
I lived in Oxford for 12 years but was forced to move away due to the cost of living. I was paying over £800 pound a month on a 2 bed flat yet I could not get a mortgage to cover even the cheapest property Oxford has to offer. I have moved to Cardiff were the house prices are affordable but I would love to go back to Oxford but I do not feel I will ever be able to afford this.
I agree with Tony on taxing lanlords as they are ripping the people of Oxford off and stopping them being able to buy.
If you liked this article and would like to share it with others on the web who might be searching for good content we've made it easy for you to do it.
At the bottom of all articles, you'll see links to six sites. These sites - commonly called 'social bookmark' or 'social news' sites - have large communities of web users who share and rate interesting, useful and fun things on the web.
Clicking the links will automatically add the address of the story you are reading to one of these sites, letting you share it with others. Each site will ask you to register to share stories. Registration is free and once a member, you can store, recommend and search for stories that interest you.
Print
Email this
Comment
