But now Burnham Market seems to have caught a chill, with prices falling by a third over the year since lock and leave owners were charged double council tax on their properties.
The added cost has seen some elect to sell their properties after being forced to stump up thousands of pounds in extra tax.
Property portal Rightmove says house prices in the village averaged £733,944 over the last year, which was 32pc down on the previous year and 27pc down on the 2022 peak of £1,000,011.
Detached properties sold for an average of £658,417, terraced properties an average of £908,750 and semi-detached an average £837,500.
But one agent in the village said inflated bills were not the sole factor which had driven prices down.
Ben Marchbank, a partner with Bedfords of Burnham Market, said: “It’s a slightly more nuanced picture than that.
“Because the number of transactions is quite small, the truth is there were fewer more expensive homes sold.”
He added Land Registry figures showed 31 properties change hands for more than £1m in 2024, while last year’s total was 11.
Mr Marchbank said anyone purchasing a property to turn into a second home or holiday let also faces paying extra stamp duty.
The complex formula adds £54,342 to the price of the average £658,417-priced terraced property, while anyone buying it as their main residence would pay £27,921.
West Norfolk Council agreed to charge a premium of double council tax on second homes from April, 2025.
Curbs on second properties also surfaced in 2023, when villagers voted for a local plan which said any new development built in the village would have to be someone’s main home.
It followed concerns that the booming number of second homes and holiday lets, thought between them to account for 50pc of properties in the coastal enclave, had pushed prices beyond the reach of locals.
While Burnham Market and the nearby coast remain one of Norfolk’s most desirable places to live in, they are not immune to economic headwinds.
Verona Frankish, chief executive of Yopa Property told Mailonline: “It’s exactly higher-value village markets like Burnham Market that have seen demand cool the most over the past year.
“Slower market conditions have caused buyers to become more cautious, and now the average house price in the area has fallen by 33pc over the past year.”
A recent report to the parish council warned visitor numbers were falling, while people were spending less in the village’s twee boutiques.
Elsewhere in Norfolk house prices fell by 2pc last year, to an average of £304,988.
Prices across the UK rose by 2.4pc to an average of £270,000.
House prices in Blakeney averaged of £293,717, a reduction of 9pc from the previous year and 39pc down on the 2022 peak of £477,758.
Properties in nearby Wells averaged £458,431 over the last year, some 4pc down on the previous year and 11pc down on the 2022 peak of £514,778.
AFFORDABILITY SQUEEZED
Mortgage affordability for homebuyers was at its tightest since 2008 last year, according to an industry body, with parts of Norfolk the worst-affected.
The least affordable local authority in 2025 was North Norfolk, where homebuyers needed 25.7pc of gross income to cover initial mortgage payments, UK Finance said.
It added homebuyers across the UK typically spent just over a fifth (21.3pc) of their gross income on their mortgage payments last year.
The most affordable local authorities were in Scotland, including East Ayrshire and Inverclyde.
James Tatch, head of analytics at UK Finance, said: “It’s been challenging times for those trying to buy a property in recent years, with affordability pressures weighing heavy.
“But the pain is not felt equally across the country. Property prices, wages and demographics vary greatly across and within regions.”