WATCH OUT SANDBANKS! Echo story

By Juliette Astrup

THE PRICE IS RIGHT? Boscombe flats are selling for £1 million
WHO would have thought it? Just a few years ago Boscombe was considered by some to be a struggling area with an image problem.

But now, as property prices continue to rocket throughout the area, Boscombe is reaping the benefits.

So much so, a penthouse flat is for sale for a cool £1 million.

The three-bedroom apartment with stunning sea views at The Point building, near Boscombe Pier, went on the market on Friday.

Paul Neville-Jones of Legrand Estate Agents, said he believed it was the first to reach that level on a resale basis.

"To be asking that price, which is achievable, is pretty astonishing," he added. "Watch out Sandbanks!"

House prices in the area are skyrocketing. Two homes in the prestigious Honeycombe Beach development have already been sold for £1 million each.

And the most expensive among the two- and three-bed flats at the newly launched Reef complex, Boscombe Spa Road, are also expected to fetch around £925,000.

Mr Neville-Jones said the level of investment in the Boscombe area, which includes the building of an artificial reef and the redevelopment of the pier, had made the area south of Christchurch Road hot property for canny buyers seeking a good return on their investments. Homes with sea views were fetching premium prices.

He added two buyers from London had already looked at The Point penthouse and others from the capital had snapped up two-bedroom flats in the same block for around the £350,000 mark.

In the last six months the average one-bed flat in the area had shot up from £115,000 to £145,000.

Mr Neville-Jones added: "It's amazing when you think about the stigma Boscombe used to have. If you'd said 10 years ago there would be a flat in Boscombe on sale for £1 million people would have said You're mad.' "I can definitely see the trend continuing."

Boscombe West councillor Lisa Northover, who has lived in Boscombe for seven years, said she believes the area has turned a corner.

"I think before we've said Boscombe is on the up more in hope than anything else, but now it's clear there's so much going on it's going to keep improving. It's an exciting time to be living here," she said.