Country house prices came under pressure in the second quarter of this year, as the ‘escape to the country’ trend reset, and buyers re-calculated their budgets due to higher borrowing costs, according to Knight Frank.

The average price of a property fell 2.6% in the second quarter, according to the firm’s Prime Country House Index (PCHI). This was the largest quarterly fall since the global financial crisis in Q2 2008 and came after a decline of 0.5% in Q1.

It left country house prices down 4.2% since their peak in June 2022, although the average property is still worth 15% more than before the pandemic, which supported a surge in prices as people upgraded their homes and took advantage of a period of stamp duty savings.

With the Bank of England having increased the bank rate 13 times since December 2021, taking it to a 14-year high of 5% as it attempts to rein in inflation, buyers have had to trim budgets in recent months.

This has put downwards pressure on prices despite resilient demand outside of London, with new prospective buyers down 9% in Q2 versus the five-year average (excluding 2020).