Edward Church of Strutt & Parker’s Canterbury office compares the local market with the national picture.

Results from our quarterly Property Watch survey show that wealthy buyers in England are buoying up the residential property market.

As a result of surging values in central London the country house market has seen a sustained and strong period of growth and, allowing for regional variations, 2006 is already out-performing 2005 at the higher end of the property sector.

A notable increase in sales has been evident since January, most significantly during the last three to four months.

The recent high level of activity in the market has accounted for the lion’s share of property value increases during the last 12 months.

Overall, 2005 was a quiet year. However, the market showed signs of recovery at the end of 2005 and this trend continued into 2006 with increases in property values during the six months of the year to June accounting for more than half the five per cent to six per cent increases of the previous 12 months.

Nationally the top end £2m-plus country house market is performing best, with cash-rich buyers driving the four per cent sales growth between January and June this year. Three-bedroom country cottages and five-bedroom mid-range family homes – priced from £400,000 to £1m – are also showing strong returns with three per cent increases in value between January and June 2006.

Kent has been no exception to the national trend. Scarcity of supply of large country houses, especially those with several acres of land, has meant that the top end of the market has seen an increase in line with the national trend.

The story is similar with five bedroom mid-range family homes, especially those in good locations, although conversely, at the more affordable end of the market prices have seen less strength, where supply is greater.

However, I would urge a note of caution for prospective vendors as although many houses have seen healthy price increases this year, this has not been as a result of optimistic pricing.

A two-tier market is developing, in which some houses have come to the market at very full prices. These have struggled to attract viewers, and offers have been few.

The best success has been achieved when realistic guide prices are set, taking full account of any local factors. In such circumstances we have seen competitive bidding.

However, all is not lost for those who may have seen a scarcity of visitors in recent weeks and months – small yet significant alterations to guide prices will often be the catalyst to cause offers to be received.