Oxford, known the world over as the City of Dreaming Spires. Historic, exquisite, elegant and deep, this city epitomises that rare combination; beauty and brains. The beauty is in its architecture and its green spaces; the brains are, of course in that pinnacle of education, Oxford University. With 48 colleges, 20,000 students and 9500 staff it is fair to say that to many, Oxford, the oldest university in the world, is its university.

Many of the city’s attractions are based around or connected to the university but Oxford isn’t all about education; there is plenty to delight the eye, feed the stomach and lift the spirit.

Oxford residents young and old will be found, on those fine sunny days, on or around the River Thames, in punts, canoes, narrowboats, cruisers and, Lord help us, in pedaloes. This obsession with the river is illustrated by the world famous Boat Race which doesn’t actually take place in Oxford but features just two teams, Oxford and its arch rival, Cambridge.

On dry land, the beauty continues in the University of Oxford Botanic Garden - the oldest botanical garden in Britain with over 7,000 species, set beside the River Cherwell, adjacent to Magdalen Bridge.

Still on foot, you could spend hours, days, months or years wandering through the historic streets, in and out of colleges and their quadrangles and, even, meadows. It’s difficult to know when you would tire of gazing at the glory of it all.

On danker days, there are museums including the Museum of Oxford and The Ashmolean, there are galleries and a plethora of stunning churches (under all those dreaming spires) including the fabulous Christ Church Cathedral, which is part of the largest college of Oxford University. The Cathedral boasts a famous men and boys’ choir, and is one of the main choral foundations in Oxford.

You can’t have a university without having books and while bookshops across the country close every month, in this city there are shops and libraries aplenty, most significantly, the Oxford University Press and Blackwells, where you can while away a long wet day.

And the most captivating sight? For me, the Bridge of Sighs, built in 1913 to link the two buildings of Hertford College. Although it’s named after the one in Venice it is nothing like it but it is romantic, peaceful and utterly charming.

There is much to draw people to living in Oxford. 60 miles from London by road, less than an hour by train and, for all those impoverished students, a 24 hour coach service from just £6.50 a trip. However, while the getting there maybe inexpensive, property most certainly is not. Knight Frank’s latest research on the county (October 2009) found a buoyant residentia market at a difficult time nationally.

Oxfordshire has weathered the financial downturn remarkably well. House prices in the city’s best locations are whispered to be achieving in excess of 2007 levels, while quality country homes for sale in the villages are keenly sought after.

Viewings have more than doubled compared with 2008 and the number of new applicants has increased by a third. This demand is driven by a limited supply in a highly desirable area; and, says Knight Frank, the highest prices are achieved by driving competitive bidding, rather than by setting a high asking price.

Oxford continues to attract buyers from London, attracted by its excellent schools and vibrant lifestyle. So popular are the most desirable streets of the city, that some sales have achieved around £1,000 per sq ft – comparable with top London locations.

In one of the worst recessions in history the best houses have increased in value by about 5% over the past 12 months. The surrounding countryside inspires strong feelings among residents and their reluctance to move out of the county means availability is declining year on year.

Residents and natives of Oxford are known as Oxonians. The list of famous Oxonians would fill a book but among the most celebrated would be Oscar Wilde, Lewis Carroll, Lawrence of Arabia, CS Lewis and JR Tolkien. And that’s just the very late great literary folk. Iris Murdoch lived here with her husband the academic John Bayley, while John Betjeman wrote at some length about this, his favourite city. Twenty-five British prime ministers have attended Oxford including Gladstone, Herbert Asquith, Attlee, Macmillan, Wilson, Heath, Thatcher and Blair. More recently, the city has enjoyed the patronage of housing some of the celebrity ‘elite’ including Jeremy Clarkson, Rowan Atkinson, Raymond Blanc and Richard Branson, Iain McEwan, Colin Dexter, Sir Roger Bannister and Chelsea Clinton.

The city was also made famous in the pop world by the Small Faces psychedelic song ‘Itchycoo Park’:
“Over bridge of sighs
To rest my eyes in shades of green
Under dreamin’ spires
To Itchycoo Park, that’s where I’ve been
What did you do there? I got high...”

There is an equally diverse list of activities to fill the leisure hours without difficulty. During my visit in February I could have gone to the Bob Marley Festival, joined an Inspector Morse Tour, explored Queer Oxford with a Walk on the Wild Side or gone equally barmy in the Ladies Hen Night which offered male nudity at a venue in Crotch Street. I kid you not.

More elegant perhaps was the opportunity to enjoy the Oxford Snowdrop Weekend followed by the ‘After Eight Service’ at Christ Church which was punted as an event which featured a wide range of music, readings and conversation, described as ‘a cross between BBC Radio 4’s Something Understood and Friday Night with Jonathan Ross.’ If academia is more your bent there was also one of the series of Oxford Amnesty Lectures 2010: Self-Evident Truths? Human Rights and the Enlightenment given by Professor James Tully. Book early for that one.

Sporting types are spoilt for choice above and beyond the boating. An ice rink, three golf clubs, Oxford United FC, greyhound racing, speedway, archery, athletics, fencing, horse riding... anything, everything and quite a lot besides. Oxford is the favoured university for future famous luvvies and the Oxford Playhouse, the New Theatre, the Burton Taylor Theatre, the Creation Theatre and the Old Fire Station all offer endless theatricals, musicals, dance and panto, plus, for certain types of a certain age, Noddy in Toyland.

Before exhaustion sets in, pubs clubs and cathedrals supply a vast array of music and song before crawling home or, if you are not sufficiently fortunate to be an Oxonian, crashing into bed at one of the city’s smart hotels – my choice would be Malmaison or the Randolph, or even, if its been a good year(!) the Manoir aux Quat’ Saisons.

Aside from the continual stream of new students, lecturers and staff at the colleges, Oxford offers excellent schools, including The Dragon, Magdalen College, Oxford High School and Greycoats.

High employment levels and the fast and reliable London commute also raise the city’s game as families seek the dream combination of traditional high quality education, countryside peace and a stimulating entertainment.

Jonathon Bramwell, Head of the Country Team at Prime Purchase, says, “The Oxfordshire market is fairly recession proof compared to other areas that we cover. The market is driven by so many factors; schooling, commutability, second homers and international buyers. There is always demand from these sectors if a ‘best in class’ property comes to the market.”

The proliferation of decent schools means housing supply is always limited as people keep their homes for 10-20 years whilst they educate their children, so there is a continuous demand for good family homes as people move into the catchment areas. This means house prices are not as affected as other areas.

Giles Lawton, Director of Residential Sales at Savills agrees. “Our core market is good town and country houses; mainly valued at £500,000 to £5million that sell to professional families often relocating to or within Oxford so that they can be close to their children’s schools, or the colleges and teaching hospitals.”

With its beauty and charms, Oxford acts as a global magnet. Mark Charter, Partner, Carter Jonas, says their client base is, “British with strong interest from the French, Germans and Australians,” and they aren’t short of funds, with budgets up to £1.5 million. Meanwhile Duncan Dingle, Residential Sales Manager, Connells has an interesting mix of purchasers including British, but also Nepalese, Polish, Lithuanian buyers. “Our breakdown is 45 per cent first time buyers, 45 per cent home movers and 10 per cent investors.”

Tim Hammond, Director of The Buying Agents says, “Our clients vary from professionals such as doctors and academics relocating to Oxford, and expats who are returning to Oxford, as well as first time buyers. But the majority are time- poor couples who want us to find them a family home in the area, perhaps moving out from London to set up their family home”. They have seen a dramatic increase in people seriously looking to buy but cannot find what they are looking for, hence they turn to The Buying Agents. “The time to find and buy a house has increased and the process is too intensive for busy professionals to do themselves.”

Another firm providing property search services is Garrington. Tessa Carnegie says, “Our client base consists of high net worth individuals searching for their main residence or second home. Those buying in the Home Counties tend to be relocating from London or moving within the county for reasons such as schooling. British demand is still prevalent in Oxfordshire however we have seen an increase in enquiries from Americans and former Eastern bloc nationals.”

Jonathan Bramwell says the majority of his clients are still British, “but at Prime Purchase we have seen an increase in International buyers mainly from Europe and the Far East as they take advantage of the weak pound; however, most of this investment is going into prime central London.”

The Oxford housing market has remained extremely active over the last few years, even in 2008 when other areas of the country had slowed significantly. Jessica Hardwick, Area Sales Director, Connells says, “Now, we are seeing a large proportion of first-time buyers entering the market despite Oxford being priced slightly higher than other areas. This may be down to vendors becoming more savvy when it comes to marketing and pricing their properties, offering things like five to ten per cent deposit paid in a bid to attract these buyers. It may also be due to parents helping their children buy their first property, which we are also seeing more and more”.

Bob Urwin, MD, Martin & Co. Oxford, says the demand for rented homes comes from all types of applicant – single professionals and couples, academics, students (UK & International, particularly from the Middle East) and families. Investors are buying too, “At the end of December ’08 we had 56 properties available to rent and at the end of December ’09 we had 75. Virtually all of the increase related to new student properties taken on.

Jessica Ashley, Residential Sales Manager, Allen & Harris, agrees, “Oxford has a lot of investors so they like run down rental properties, generally every property sells very quickly.”

This is a sentiment echoed by Jan Bartlett of Premier Lettings who finds that their clients; one-off landlords as well as those with large portfolios see Oxford as a great place to invest, “Currently there is a large demand for sensibly priced modern apartments, with 2 bedrooms, presented to a modern standard. Their tenants will be professional sharers, couples and overseas workers here to fill vacancies in our catering and IT sectors.”

In Oxford, there is never enough housing to meet demand and the lack of available property has driven up prices. William Kirkland, Manager of John D Wood & Co Oxford office, comments, “Anyone spending more than £600,000 wants to liv in central north Oxford, due to its convenience for the city centre and the quality of the architecture, but it is a small geographic area and available properties are always limited. Relocating Londoners in particular find this hard to understand; they think a £2 million budget will buy them anything they want, but the best properties will take more than this.”

Jessica Ashley, Allen & Harris says, “There are definitely more buyers that there are properties to buy. More properties are needed to keep up with the demand from buyers.”

Almost all the agents said that prices are up on 12 months ago, but that doesn’t necessarily mean business is booming. Most report a severe shortage of property, for sale and to let. Apart from small blocks of flats there is little room for development, with investors snapping up any bargains and families staying put for years, the market is tight, to say the least.

For property search specialists this is good. Their services are in great demand for a variety of reasons Tim Hammond is also Chief Executive of the APFBA, the industry association for Property Finders and Buyers Agents in the UK. He says, “Business is expanding as the awareness of the benefits of using property search agents has increased. In the current market you need to get to view properties first.”

Tessa Carnegie, says, “Across all sectors there has been a significant decrease in properties coming on to the market in the past couple of months. There will always be the forced sales due to the 3 ‘d’s (divorce, debt and death) but the number of sellers who move because they would like a change declined. ‘Best of breed homes’ tend to come to the market in an organised manner rather than through requirement.”

Bob Urwin, MD, Martin & Co. says that the letting market in Oxford is strong. “However, we are concerned that the government has announced that it intends to give local authorities the power to introduce compulsory schemes to licence private landlords. Oxford has announced it fully intends to bring in such a scheme. This is a sledgehammer to crack a nut. They’d be better advised to concentrate on licensing all letting agents.”

Jessica Hardwick, Area Sales Director, Connells also says the buy-to-let market in Oxford is still going strong. “The city has plenty of students, great transport links for commuters and the large John Radcliffe hospital which all make for a thriving rental market.” But it’s not quite so rosy on the sales front: “One thing we haven’t seen is a return to upsizing, but with increasing development and the sale of land for new homes, we should see increasing numbers of properties in the middle market which I believe will get snapped up as confidence continues to grow.”

Giles Lawton and Karen Mole from Savills on the market in 2010: “There are now very clear signs that the pent-up buyer demand for the best properties, seen in the second half of 2009, has carried over into 2010. Registrations are up, and budgets do not appear to have suffered as a result of the downturn. Savills Research forecasts a flattening of values for prime property this year and then a steady increase to 2015.

After an extraordinarily quiet year on the new homes front, developers have started 2010 on a positive note and we have several new schemes to bring to the market in the early part of 2010.”