■ East to outperform London: Over the next five years, we are forecasting that the strongest performing region will be the South East, closely followed by the East of England, with average house price growth of 26.4% and 25.2% respectively. This will be driven by an improving economy and buyers moving out of London in search of better value for money.

■ In the city: Cambridge has seen stronger house price growth than the East of England since 2006. Based on the economic factors discussed in this document and the positive sentiment in the city, we believe Cambridge will continue to outperform the regional forecast. However, this disproportionate rise in values means that buyers in Cambridge are becoming increasingly stretched. Affordability pressures coupled with mortgage constraints may limit future house price growth.

■ The prime markets: Taxation is the key issue affecting the prime housing markets in 2015 as the pre-election rhetoric around a mansion tax is likely to suppress the short term potential for further price growth in the prime housing markets. In the absence of such a tax, the potential for price growth in the prime markets remains, particularly in the London commuter markets such as Cambridge.

■ Development hotspot: 2013-14 saw high volumes of new homes delivered but the level of demand meant that these were absorbed into the market quickly and prices continued to grow strongly. Sales rates at Cambridge Southern Fringe demonstrate that developing in the right locations can lead to high levels of delivery with multiple housebuilders operating in tandem.

■ More land required: Looking forward we expect demand for new homes to remain strong. Major new releases of land are required to meet Cambridge’s housing need and support the economy. These have the opportunity to provide housing at a range of tenures and price points, along with additional employment areas.

^{Source: Savills Research}