Property website Rightmove has named an Aberdeenshire town in its top 10 of “most searched for” in 2021.
Huntly, with a population of 4,116, came seventh on the UK list showing an increase of 54% in online property searches compared with 2020.
The pandemic has encouraged people to think about moving out of towns and cities for more space, and open countryside.
And Huntly, which is only an hour’s drive from Aberdeen, appears to be the perfect location in Scotland for homebuyers. Last year the town was named as one of the most desirable locations in Aberdeenshire.
All of the 10 locations on Rightmove’s list are either villages or located near the sea, only two are in Scotland.
Rhos-on-Sea, a small seaside town in north Wales near Colwyn Bay, topped the list of the 10 most popular hotspots.
The Clarkson Effect
In second place was Hove, East Sussex with an increase of 680% on 2020. The village of Chadlington, famed for TV series Clarkson’s Farm was third on the list, with an increase of 211%.
In fourth place was the village of Breage in Cornwall, located 20 miles from Land’s End.
In fifth place was the Isle of Man, with its low crime rate.
In sixth and 10th place were villages in Cumbria: Frizington, near the Lake District national park, and Allonby, which looks across the Solway Firth to the hills of southern Scotland.
Huntly was in seventh place, and in eighth was Millport, the only town on the Isle of Cumbrae, off the Ayrshire coast.
The seaside village of Thorpeness in Suffolk came in ninth place.
In terms of major areas, London is historically the most searched-for location on Rightmove; however, in January and February 2021, and then from May until September, Cornwall led the way. The capital returned to first place to end the year.
Tim Bannister, Rightmove’s director of property data said: “Our search data gives us real-time insight into what buyers are looking for from their next home, and the areas that are attracting future movers.
“It also gives us a unique understanding of how current events and culture can inspire people to imagine the life that could be in a new area, from countryside living in the Cotswolds inspired by the ‘Clarkson’s Farm’ TV show.”
