On the up! New research forecasts a bright and busy future for Southampton’s housing market

There’s good news for cities across the South Coast according to the latest research by CBRE, which looked into real estate prospects over the coming decade.

Ranked against the nation’s 50 largest towns and cities outside of London, Southampton joined Brighton and Bournemouth in the top five for several metrics from the study.

The headline this year has been the approval of Solent Freeport, which is expected to create over 15,000 direct jobs in and around Hampshire on top of a further 15,000 opportunities elsewhere in the UK.

This should prove a major driving factor in the growth of Southampton’s population, projected to rise by 3.7 per cent over the next 10 years.

With more people comes more housing, and the city accordingly ranks second place for growth in affordable housing.

Although Southampton is comparable to Bristol in this metric, a more efficient planning process should make developments easier to deliver.

Nor will hoteliers miss out, as Southampton will be among the most popular destinations for travelers.

In 10 years’ time, the city could be seeing 67 per cent more international visitors – the largest increase of all cities covered by the study.

James Brounger, pictured left, heads the Southampton offices of CBRE.

He said: “It is good news for the South Coast that the regional cities feature so highly.

“Southampton in particular has benefited hugely from the recent recovery of the maritime industry – especially the cruise industry, with passenger numbers set to hit two million in 2023, a figure not seen for six years.

“Equally well known for its universities, Southampton has a student population of 46,000 and along with Reading and Oxford is one of the cities expected to see a large increase in student population over the next decade, fuelling the requirement for multi-family housing and self-storage.

“Surrounded by the New Forest and nearby South Downs, it was voted the fourth best city to live and work in according to One Family in 2022.”

The research took into account not only typical metrics like GDP, employment, and income growth, but also demographic trends and property market data such as supply pipeline, local universities, and housing affordability.