Thursday 18 January 2018

Supply and Demand Issues mean Crawley Property Values Rise by 6.3% in the Last 12 Months



A recent set of data from the Land Registry stated that property values in Crawley and the surrounding area were 6.39% higher than 12 months ago and 21.35% higher than January 2015.

Despite the uncertainty over Brexit and the reported stall in the London property market, Crawley property values continue their medium and long-term upward trajectory.  As economics is about supply and demand, the story behind the Crawley property market can also be seen from those two sides of the story.

Looking at the supply issues of the Crawley property market one of the main reasons of this sustained house price growth has been down to of the lack of building new homes.

Our planning laws has meant the amount of land built on in the UK today, only stands at 1.8%.  Nobody wants to see the building of modern ugly carbuncles and high-rise flats in our West Sussex countryside.  But the facts are, with the restrictions on building homes for people to live in, the homes that the youngsters of Crawley need, aren’t being built. 



Looking at the demand side of the equation, one might have thought property values would drop because of Brexit and buyers uncertainty. However, some commenters now believe property values might rise because of Brexit.  Many people are risk adverse, they don’t trust the money markets and the stock market is at an all-time high (ready to pop again?).  The thing about property is its tangible, bricks and mortar, and you can touch it and you can easily understand it.  

The Brits have historically put their faith in bricks and mortar which they expect to rise in value.  Nationally, the value of property has risen by 635.4% since 1984, beating the stock market rise of 593.1%.  Both the stock market and property values go up and down but whilst in the dot com bubble of the early 2000’s, the FTSE100 dropped 126.3% in two years.  The worst drop Crawley saw in property values was just 22.54% in the 2008/9 credit crunch.

Despite the slowdown in the rate of annual property value growth in Crawley to the current 6.39%, it can be argued the headline rate of Crawley property price inflation is holding up well, especially with the squeeze on real incomes, new taxation rules for landlords and the slight ambiguity around Brexit. With mortgage rates at an all-time low and tumbling unemployment, all these factors are largely continuing to help support property values in Crawley (and the UK).