HOUSE prices in Padstow have rocketed and the town is now in the top five most expensive coastal places to live in the UK. An average-priced house in the North Cornwall port now costs £386,261 – up 93 per cent from 1993 prices.
It now costs more to buy a house in Padstow than in St Mawes on the Roseland, where an average property will set you back £369,224, according to the latest survey from the Halifax.
A large property at North Quay, comprising retail units and four self-contained apartments, recently went on the market for £1.5 million.
The most expensive coastal town to live is Salcombe, in Devon, where the average house costs £570,378, just slightly ahead of Sandbanks in Dorset.
Second-home owners have helped push up property prices in prettier coastal areas.
Martin Ellis, from the Halifax, said seaside towns offer "high quality of life and a healthy environment".
"As a result, living by the coast can come at a price," he said.
Newly elected Cornwall councillor for Padstow and St Merryn, Richard Buscombe, said he would support moves to restrict second homes through the planning system, and do all he could to bring more affordable homes to the area.
He said: "The main emphasis in my election manifesto was the need for more affordable homes for young local families and it is something I intend to drive forward for Padstow and St Merryn.
"Cornish MPs like Andrew George want to change the planning system to restrict the number of second homes in the county, and I fully support that. Padstow is a very attractive place to live, so it draws people to the town, but there needs to be more properties built that local families can afford."
A new survey by property consultants Knight Frank, also shows that waterfront properties in the South West cost more than similar homes anywhere else in the UK, with Rock being a particular hotspot.
Homes situated on estuaries and harbours cost around 82 per cent more than equivalent properties a few miles inland.
Christopher Bailey, head of Knight Frank's waterfront department, said that, since the latter half of 2012, demand for waterfront properties has improved.
"So far, 2013 has shown clear signs of growing buyer sentiment, reflected by an increase in viewings of waterfront properties across the UK between January and April by 43 per cent year on year.
"Across the whole waterfront market, buyers are still prepared to pay premiums for their lifestyle choices but the market is increasingly price sensitive.
"We have seen an increase in the number of sales agreed, for properties between £750,000 and £1.5 million again, where properties are realistically priced.
"We expect this trend to continue into 2014."
