A GAUNT evangelist on patrol outside the estate agencies of Exeter stops me in my tracks as I try to check on the properties in the window: “There’s a free mansion for you in Heaven, my dear, if you’ve given your life to the Lord.” Local property, he clearly feels, offers little temptation, but the underrated virtues of the West Country city are relentlessly making converts.

Most of them are refugees from the overcrowded, overpriced South East, according to a report from Knight Frank. Price growth may be easing in the North and Midlands, Halifax figures show, but it remains strong in the South West, with prices up 14.1 per cent in a year. The average price is now £212,277 (£202,196 in Exeter), compared with a UK average of £192,314.

Exeter is a city in enough of an economic hurry to provide varied chances for work or study. Having seduced the Met Office, which moved there in 2003, EDF Energy, Norwich Union and the Bank of England, the city of 117,000 is now establishing a science park and considering further retail developments. Yet it sits on the edge of Dartmoor, with canal-side country walks starting from the Quay, a few minutes’ stroll from the centre, and the coast just 15 minutes’ drive away. A fast-expanding international airport makes up for the sometimes leisurely railway connections with Manchester, Edin-burgh and London, with the London line increasingly popular with commuters.

Hot on the heels of relocating city slickers comes the urban-living trend, imported from regenerated northern centres such as Manchester and Leeds. The pent-up demand from empty-nesters, professionals and the parents of university students was barely sated by Bellway’s 244-unit Isca Place, near Exeter Central station (from £180,000 for a two-bedroom apartment) and the promise of further development by the unspoilt Quay. Now Land Securities, the retail giant, has unveiled plans for 120 apartments in its £225 million redevelopment of the vast Princesshay precinct.

Marketing on the most appealing of the homes — boutique apartments off a piazza adorned with outdoor cafés and a smattering of public art — will begin next month, but 600 people have already expressed interest in the cathedral views and comfortable minimalism. Expect to pay £600,000 for a split-level two-bedroom penthouse with balcony, or £150,000 for a smaller one-bedroom apartment overlooking Debenhams. More flats are to come, deeper in Princesshay, which has attracted new Hobbs, Karen Millen and Neal’s Yard Remedies shops. Independent shops will line Roman Walk near by, helping to offset Exeter’s reputation, set by a 2005 study, as the UK’s worst “clone town”.

The energetic local authority is now talking of turning the dreary bus station site into a “Grecian quarter”, with residential developments and a major retailer at its heart (locals have made it clear they favour John Lewis). The unloved old Debenhams building may be converted to flats rather than being demolished — the name Urban Splash has even been invoked. There are few developers’ names that could do more to gladden the hearts of property devotees: no wonder Exeter’s high street evangelist looked so unnerved.

Isca Place 01392-217 657
Princesshay 01392-848 844

FORSALE

Wartime bombs destroyed chunks of Exeter, but the city remains rich in historic loveliness, such as the pillared terraces on Southernhay, now ripe for rescue from commercial use. Those with bigger ambitions might prefer Rougemont Castle, above, the former courts complex (with listed Georgian mansion and Norman gatehouse and walls), which has planning consent for a mixed-use scheme. Some observers expect it to sell for £4.25 million. For details, contact Savills: 020-7409 9942

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