While the media may like to discuss what will or won’t happen with the property market across the UK or perhaps what has and hasn’t already happened we prefer to look at things on a more local level. It is very hard to plan around national trends because certain areas will always skew the figures. For most people the London property price bubble causes a false positive when it comes to increasing values and places like Brighton and other burgeoning South Coast commuter towns can do the same. For those of us who work in the property industry in Suffolk and many of it’s wonderful towns and villages the national data can be interesting but is not something to make judgements on in relation to our own county.
We thought it would be useful to pull together some publicly available info on local house prices over the last few years to see how Suffolk stacks up, this will become a blog series with more areas added throughout the year.
Suffolk
Before looking at some towns it is worth looking a the average numbers across Suffolk as a county. Over the last 5 years the average house price has gone up by nearly £62,000. However, the last last 12 months have seen a 1.33% drop. This drop seems to have been arrested as the last 3 months show a smaller figure which will hopefully level out and begin growing again.
Framlingham
Once voted the best place to live in the Country by Country Life magazine, this wonderful market town certainly offers a lot of residents and people looking to move somewhere lovely! Framlingham Castle is a must see for visitors and widely appreciated by long term residents too. The town has lots of history but also plenty of shops, pubs and places to eat.
In terms of house prices if we look over the last 5 years they are up nearly 30% with an overall gain of just over £75,000. However, there has been a recent drop over the last 3 months of a small but important 0.6%. The rate of increase has been slowing for a while and in the last 12 months it has been less than £200. However, it is worth noting that the overall trend is up and the recent changes could be blips rather than anything more meaningful.
Felixstowe
The original hamlet of Felixstowe has stood since before the Norman conquest and is a town with a lot of history. It was once called Walton and was only called Felixstowe retrospectively. A popular destination for tourists the town offers seaside fun with a traditional pier, seafront gardens and sandy beaches. It has good transport links and plenty of places to stay, eat and drink.
Average property prices have also increased over the last 5 years by around £60,000 and the increase has been felt in the last 12 months too with an average increase of 1.72%. However, as with Framlingham the last 3 months have seen average prices fall and more so in this location with a drop of around 1.3%.