House prices in Chelmsford have grown 6.7% annually on average since 2012, faster than in Essex (6.1%) and the wider East of England region (6.2%). This growth has been helped by demand from London professionals: commuters into London made up a quarter of Chelmsford residents at the time of the 2011 Census.

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Transport links

These London commuters cast their searches for new homes outside the city for the relatively affordable prices and more pastoral surroundings: average new build prices in Chelmsford are 42% lower than in London according to Land Registry data. Towns and cities in Essex such as Brentwood, Chelmsford and Basildon are also well connected, with the rail journey from Chelmsford and Brentwood to London Liverpool Street taking 40 minutes and from Shenfield and Ingatestone taking less than half an hour. Basildon offers a more convenient solution for financial sector workers, with trains running into Canary Wharf via West Ham in around 45 minutes.

Shenfield, Brentwood, and Harold Wood have the additional benefit of Crossrail stations in the pipeline. Although this new route to London is not expected to reduce travel times, Crossrail will bring benefits in the form of increased capacity and lower ticket prices.

^{Source: HM Land Registry}

Away from the city

In addition to city and town centre developments, Essex offers a huge variety of small, bespoke developments in villages and small towns such as Halstead and Hatfield Peverel. These offer larger houses with additional features such as extensive gardens and off-road parking. According to Savills Spring 2014 Prime Regional Survey, 34% of people moving to the South East of England are motivated by wanting a larger property: often in order to have access to more bedrooms or additional outside space.

There is also a range of developments in towns across the east Essex coast, where sea views have a significant impact on values. Research from Savills earlier this year showed there is a price premium of 14.3% for Southend properties up to 100 metres from the sea front, relative to houses up to a kilometre away.