In the days of Covid, housing markets by the seaside went into overdrive. Jaded city workers, believing working from home was here to stay, sought out permanent moves to prettier climes, or invested in second homes to provide easy getaways or holiday lets.

However, five years on from the start of the pandemic, the coastal “race for space” has comprehensively come to an end, as the widespread crackdown on remote working, coupled with rising taxes for second-homeowners, kills the market.

An analysis by the property portal Rightmove, based on a sample of 100 coastal areas, finds that the average price in seaside resorts rose by 1 per cent between March last year and the same month this year, in line with national prices. However, back in March 2021, there was a 4.5 per cent annual rise in coastal prices, nearly double the 2.7 per cent growth seen nationally.

The difference in some key race-for-space hotspots is stark. Rightmove data found that in Newquay, where prices went up 9.6 per cent in the year to March 2021, they fell by 2.8 per cent in the year to this March. Meanwhile in Bridport, Dorset, prices rose by 9 per cent to March 2021 but fell 3.5 per cent this year.Buyers using Rightmove’s website to look for properties are also voting with their feet. In March 2021, Cornwall overtook London as the most searched-for area on for the first time. However, the portal says London has today once again taken the top spot. Plus, 58 per cent of those living in the capital and using the portal are looking to stay put — up from 47 per cent in 2021.As enthusiasm wanes for an escape to the country, the speed at which sellers in coastal areas are finding buyers has slowed dramatically, from an average of 52 days in 2021 up to 73 today. Meanwhile, the time to find a buyer in London has remained much the same, at 65 days today compared to 63 in 2021.“Five years on from the pandemic, many short-term trends brought about by the unique circumstances of lockdown have reversed,” Steve Pimblett, Rightmove’s chief data officer, said.The acceleration in rural homes coming to market, plus a lack of interest in new purchases by outsiders, comes after years of rising anti-second-home activism by residents of beauty spots who say they cannot afford anywhere to live and their communities are being “hollowed out” by absentee owners. This week, four Cornish MPs put forward an “AirBnB bill” which would force second-homeowners to have to apply for planning permission before being allowed to turn properties into holiday lets.The fall in demand for rural homes may be welcomed by campaigners opposed to second-home ownershipALAMYPlus, a blizzard of recent tax changes have already made it more expensive to buy a second home, or to make existing properties work financially. This includes a rise in stamp duty introduced by chancellor Rachel Reeves in the autumn Budget last year, which means new buyers now have to pay as much as 17 per cent in tax when they purchase a second home.Meanwhile, for existing second-homeowners, a 100 per cent rise in council tax introduced by most local authorities from April 1 has raised the bills of hundreds of thousands of owners from £2,280 to £4,560, while the owners of some larger properties face bills of up to £8,000. Plus, thousands of holiday let owners, who are exempt from council tax because their properties are registered as businesses, had tax relief perks cut by the previous government which also came into force this month. The cost of tradesmen to do repairs has also soared.Using data from the property analytics company PropCast, The Times has found that the markets in many rural areas are in the deep freeze. For example, the market in Mawgan Porth and Newquay in Cornwall has almost collapsed since Covid, with only 22 properties under offer for every 100 on sale today, down from 43 in 2020. Nathan Emerson, chief executive of Propertymark, the membership body for estate agents, said: “Directly following the pandemic, many people saw the home working revolution as a potential opportunity to pursue a new or different lifestyle, often away from traditional town and city centres, as there was little need to be present within a physical office location five days a week.“As time has progressed, substantial numbers of employers are now starting to ask their employees to make a return to centralised office locations, thus reversing the trend of five years ago for many people.”