House prices in Crawley continuing to soar
08-11-2015
SNAPPED UP: Every home that has gone on sale so far at the Forge Wood development has been bought
HOUSE prices in Crawley continue to soar – with the cost of certain homes in much of the town way above the national average.
The average price of a three-bedroom home nationally is £227,000 but in the RH10 post code, which includes the east of the town, the average is a whopping £295,000.
Prices are cheaper in the RH11 post code, which includes the west of the town, where the average price of a three-bedroom home is £241,500.
The average two-bedroom home in RH10 is also well above the national average at £233,200 compared to £199,400 – but in RH11 the price is close to the national average, at £201,700.
James Bickerstaff, a branch partner at estate agents Moore and Partners on the High Street, says prices continue to rise across the town, as a knock-on effect of the cost of homes in London continuing to rocket.
He explained: "People are being priced out of buying homes inside the M25 and are moving to Crawley which is putting pressure on the market here.
"Any pricing trends from London tend to come into effect here after about a month."
Matthew Cousins, a director at Inspire Estate Agents on Southgate Parade, says prices are continuing to rise in Crawley due to a shortage of homes on the market.
He added: "Lack of supply is the main reason for the increase.
"Lack of stock has in part been caused by people not being able to afford the next step on the housing ladder and so are choosing to extend their current homes."
Both estate agents agreed that three-bedroom homes in all parts of the town are selling very quickly with Mr Cousins explaining that three-bed terraced homes are particularly popular.
Crawley's new neighbourhood Forge Wood – north of Pound Hill – highlights how demand is exceeding supply.
About 80 homes, which are a mixture of two, three, four and five-bedroom properties, have been put up for sale so far and every single property has already been sold.
The first residents moved into their new homes, which are off Steers Lane, in May and June.
Taylor Wimpey will be releasing more homes later in the year.
Nationally, house prices per square metre have risen by 18 per cent since 2010 with increases across all regions, according to recent research from Halifax.
Housing economist Martin Ellis said: "House prices in the three months to June were 3.3 per cent higher than in the preceding three months.
"Annual house price growth also increased to 9.6 per cent from 8.6 per cent in May and is at its highest since September 2014.
"Supply remains very tight with the stock of homes available for sale currently at record low levels.
"This shortage has been a key factor maintaining house price growth at a robust pace so far in 2015. Economic growth, higher employment, increasing real earnings growth and very low mortgage rates are all supporting housing demand with signs of a recent modest pick-up in demand."
HOUSE PRICES Average RH10 price - Average RH11 price - National average One-bedroom home - £177,100 - £160,900 - £182,700 Two-bedroom home - £233,200 - £201,700 - £199,400 Three-bedroom home - £295,700 - £241,500 - £227,000Four-bedroom home - £449,200 - £338,800 - £402,900 Five-bedroom home - £621,500 - £461,400 - £688,900 *Figures are for June and from the Land Registry, courtesy of Mouseprice.com WHERE DOES THE RH10 POSTCODE COVER Furnace Green, Langley Green, Lowfield Heath, Maidenbower, Northgate, Pease Pottage, Pound Hill, Worth, Southgate, Three Bridges, Tilgate, Tinsley Green, West Green, Turners Hill, Rowfant, Ardingly, Balcombe, Burstow, Horne, Outwood, Copthorne, Crawley Down, Felbridge WHERE DOES THE RH11 POSTCODE COVER Bewbush, Broadfield, Gossops Green, Ifield, Langley Green, Lowfield Heath, Northgate, Southgate, Tilgate, West Green, Ardingly, Balcombe, Pease Pottage, Rusper, Colgate *Parts of some neighbourhoods are in RH10 while other parts of the neighbourhoods are in RH11.