Pandemic-fuelled shift to coast and country has gone into reverse

The harbour at Port Isaac in north Cornwall, a village named as a property hotspot in early 2020. Photograph: Paul Felix/Alamy

Back in the early months of Covid lockdowns, all the talk in property circles was of would-be housebuyers plotting a move to coastal and rural areas as city dwellers prioritised a bigger garden, access to nature and more room for home working.

But, five years on, the reshaping of the housing market sparked by the pandemic has gone into reverse, with homes by the sea seemingly losing some of their lustre and fewer people looking to escape from cities, data shows.