Matthew Syme, the branch manager at William H Brown in Ware, believes mid-range properties are driving the local market.
Three-bedroom family homes priced at between £400,000 to £500,000 sell well, often to young families who have been priced out of north London but still need to be within easy reach of the capital for work.
“A lot of them just look at train lines and work their way up,” Syme says. “And the more people come here, more people talk about it, more people end up coming.”
East Hertfordshire certainly has plenty of options for commuters. Trains from Ware, Hertford and Bishop’s Stortford all take around three quarters of an hour to reach central London.
At the lower end of the market, Syme also sees first-time buyers, usually with a budget of around £300,000 to £350,000, which will buy them a two-bedroom flat or a small freehold cottage. But there is less action right at the top end.
“Obviously, when you start going north of £1m, there are just fewer of those buyers in general,” he says.
Elliot King, the director of Elliot Heath estate agents, says buyers are surging in from the outer north London suburbs in search of more bang for their buck.
“People are buying three or four-bedroom houses for the same money that they were spending on renting a two-bedroom flat in London,” he says.
For King, the charm of the area is its variety. Ware or Hertford offer plenty to do, while buyers can also opt for a more bucolic village life in places like Standon and neighbouring Puckeridge, where you will find all the everyday basics – pub, shops, schools – plus pretty period houses and lovely surrounding countryside.
