Bristol has the fastest growing population of any of the UK's core cities, including more singletons, significantly boosting demand for properties to buy and rent in the process.
The recent Census results showed that Bristol's population had increased by 10% in the past decade, while the city's population is increasingly young, with the proportion of those aged between 25 and 49 higher than the national average; suggesting that high long-term demand for housing is sustainable.
The figures show that Bristol is a thriving city with a fast growing population. These Census statistics play a very important role in helping the authorities plan for local services and highlight just how many more new homes in the future are needed to meet growing demand, enabling investors to monitor and potentially identify the relationship between local supply and demand, including a rising imbalance.
Bristol's increasing population is already putting pressure on housing supply, which in turn is helping to drive property prices and rents higher.
Research by Bristol Mortgage Broker, the independent mortgage broker specialist based in Bristol, reveals that Bristol recorded the fifth largest residential property price increase in 2012, with the average price of a home in the city appreciating by 3.3%, against an average rise of 1.1% across England and Wales.
Even among its neighbouring counties in the south-west, Bristol's home prices have performed well. Bristol's property price growth of 3.3% over the year compares with just 0.9% in Gloucestershire, and a 3.2% fall in Somerset. In fact, only London, Brighton and Hove, Merthyr Tydfil in south Wales, and Surrey recorded larger increases last year.
New homes in Bristol:
Persimmon's development of three- and four-bedroom houses at Petherton Dean in Petherton Road, Bristol, is proving popular with homebuyers, thanks in part to the NewBuy scheme available, which means that purchasers can acquire a brand new home with a deposit of just 5%. Prices start from £215,000.
Housebuilder Redrow is building a selection of new homes at Aurora Spring on Long Down Avenue, Bristol, BS16, with prices starting from 240,950.