Crawley house prices dropped more than South East average in February

House prices dropped by 1.5% – more than the average for the South East – in Crawley in February, new figures show.

But the drop does not reverse the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area achieve 5.5% annual growth.

The average Crawley house price in February was £326,753, Land Registry figures show – a 1.5% decrease on January.

Over the month, the picture was similar to that across the South East, where prices decreased 1.2%, and Crawley underperformed compared to the 1% drop for the UK as a whole.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in Crawley rose by £17,000 – putting the area 48th among the South East’s 64 local authorities with price data for annual growth.

The best annual growth in the region was in Maidstone, where property prices increased on average by 12.1%, to £367,000. At the other end of the scale, properties in Oxford gained just 0.4% in value, giving an average price of £460,000.

Winners and Losers

Owners of terraced houses fared worst in Crawley in February – they dropped 1.8% in price, to £326,731 on average. But over the last year, prices rose by 5.8%.

Among other types of property:

• Detached: down 1.1% monthly; up 5.5% annually; £666,911 average
• Semi-detached: down 1.5% monthly; up 6.2% annually; £427,373 average
• Flats: down 1.5% monthly; up 3.5% annually; £203,580 average

First steps on the property ladder

First-time buyers in Crawley spent an average of £294,000 on their property – £15,000 more than a year ago, and £41,000 more than in February 2018.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £371,000 on average in February – 26.3% more than first-time buyers.

How do property prices in Crawley compare?

Buyers paid 17.4% less than the average price in the South East (£396,000) in February for a property in Crawley. Across the South East, property prices are lower than those across the UK, where the average cost £288,000.

The most expensive properties in the South East were in Elmbridge – £721,000 on average, and 2.2 times as much as more than in Crawley. Elmbridge properties cost 2.8 times as much as homes in Southampton (£255,000 average), at the other end of the scale.

The highest property prices across the UK were in 160.

Factfile

Average property price in February

• Crawley: £326,753
• The South East:£395,571
• UK: £287,506

Annual growth to February

• Crawley: +5.5%
• The South East: +5.8%
• UK: +5.5%

Best and worst annual growth in the South East

• Maidstone: +12.1%
• Oxford: +0.4%