Now could be the time to take the punge and buy that seaside home. We’ve done the research on the towns that have become affordable.

Two years ago, when house prices were at their peak, buying a home by the coast seemed to be a dwindling dream - unless you had a lot of money to spare.  Property values had soared and that elusive whiff of ozone merely added to the bill. Estate agents Savills recently found that the average cost of a home near the coast in England and Wales had risen by 115 per cent since 2001, compared with 96 per cent across the country as a whole.

Now, of course, thanks to the credit crunch, the gap has closed and has brought house prices a little closer to reality. ‘Affordability in all seaside towns has improved since the middle of 2008,’ says Lucian Cook, director of Savills Research. As housing economist Nitesh Patel of the Halifax adds, ‘Property in many seaside towns is still at a premium, but affordability has improved most in Wales, Northn England and East Anglia.’

Also, while last year’s ‘barbecue’ summer may not have delivered on the weather front, it lured hearts and minds back to the British coast.  Indeed, property search engine Nestoria concluded that the ’staycation’ factor influenced house prices. ‘The market appears to be coming back up.’ says Javier Etxebeste of Nestoria. ‘A lot depends on the area, but there’s been a return to form, boosted by the summer.’

Des res discounts

So can the British coastline recover the ascent it has enjoyed since the 1990s? It certainly looks possible. A survey by Halifax Bank of Scotland shows that in the decade up to 2008, most internal migration involved shifting to coastal areas.

Lucian Cook of Savills Research has identified a ’super class’ of 14 top seaside destinations, including Sandbanks, Salcombe, Aldeburgh and Padstow, which have developed what he calls ‘micro-climates’: coast hotspots with average prices of more than £300,000. But even in these covetable parts, there’s been price movement. ‘Padstow prices have dropped around 20 per cent in the past 18 months,’ says Moira Hall of Padstow agent Stratton Creber. ‘For the first time in years, we’ve got plenty of properties under £250,000.’ A lot depends on supply, however. At yachtie Lymington on the Solent, the recession’s impact has been confined to about ten per cent. ‘It’s because Lymington always has more people looking to move there than sellers.’ says Kevin Allen of local agents John D Wood & Co.

This, at the top end, prices haven’t always fallen far. For example, the more established South Devon hotspots such as Dartmouth, Kingswear and Salcombe may be ‘a bit more affordable’, as Martin Lamb of Savills in Exeter puts it, but they’ve also had a boost because of the crunch. ‘These places are very lettable and many of our buyers would rather have their money in property than in a bank.’

The second home factor has stopped values falling on the Scottish coast too. As property finder Matthew Sinclair of Saint Property says, ‘The market in coastal towns is much affected by demand for another property. Prices have fallen by ten per cent but not far enough to lure locals back.’ Indeed , the Scottish market remains relatively buoyant, particularly on the islands and scenic west coast.