The number of house sales agreed in Huntingdonshire last year has risen by nearly 35 per cent, according to research completed by the estate agents Savills.

The research shows that 4,694 properties were sold subject to contract throughout the district in 2021, compared to 3,483 sold in 2019.

The rise has been attributed to lifestyle changes driven by the pandemic encouraging buyers to flock to the area.

Less travel for work has led to an uptick in interest for homes in quieter, more rural locations fairly close to larger towns and villages with a good selection of pubs, restaurants, boutique retailers and other facilities.

Head of residential sales at Savills Cambridge Ed Meyer said: “The level of demand over the last 18 months or so has been phenomenal – and probably, honestly, taken us all a little by surprise. Every time we thought the market might slow, we were proven wrong.

“The lifestyle factors that motivated people to move after the first lockdown – the need for more space, an increase in home working and the desire to be close to the countryside – continued throughout the year, and the market just kept getting busier and busier."

Due to lockdown forcing a temporary closure for part of 2020, the 34.8 per cent rise has been compared to the year 2019; the last time agents say the housing market experienced more usual trading conditions.

At the higher end of the market, the number of homes sold subject to contract in Huntingdonshire for £1m+ increased by 116.7 per cent – from 24 in 2019 to 52 in 2021.

Cambridgeshire as a whole saw 20,147 properties sold subject to contract in 2021, an increase of 29.7 per cent from 2019.

Ed said the high levels of activity have led to imbalances with not enough properties on the market to meet buyers’ needs.

He said: “This has created fierce competition among buyers, and in many cases, properties have been selling within days for considerably more than the guide price.”

"Looking ahead, there is a little uncertainty about how the market will react as we move into the spring and early summer.

“For the time being, at least the market remains extremely buoyant, and there is a large pool of highly motivated buyers who are ready, willing and able to move.”