'Significant rise' in market town house prices

Posted: 14 Nov 2011 12:31:34 GMT

The average house price in an English market town now stands at £233,416.

There has been a significant rise in the price of houses in England's market towns over the last decade, new research has shown.

Carried out by Lloyds TSB, the study revealed the average property cost in these locations jumped from £114,718 in 2001 to currently stand at £233,416.

This marks a leap of 103 per cent and is the equivalent of £989 per month across the last ten years.

According to the statistics, more than half the market towns considered in the investigation have seen home prices increase by at least double in this time, with northern England bearing witness to some of the most marked hikes.

It was shown that Stanhope in County Durham experienced the largest rise - a 158 per cent jump from £57,502 to 3148,264 - while the second biggest was recorded for Ferryhill, where costs swelled by 155 per cent.

In addition, a 150 per cent increase was reported for Alford in Lincolnshire, while Saltburn on the north-east coast, Seahouses in Northumberland and Helston in Cornwall all enjoyed a 145 per cent climb.

Of all the locations featured in the top ten, the latter was the only one to be positioned in southern England.

Nitesh Patel, housing economist at Lloyds TSB - which is part of Lloyds Banking Group, alongside other brands that include Black Horse, Cheltenham & Gloucester, Share Dealing and Scottish Widows Investment Partnership - said: "The popularity of living in market towns is clearly evident from the substantial increases in average house prices seen over the past decade, together with the significant premium that many of them command over their neighbouring town."

The industry figure explained many of these areas offer a balance between close proximity to the countryside and easy access to road and rail networks that enable people to commute to work without too much difficulty.
 

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