It comes as no surprise to anyone in Cornwall when they are told that places like Feock, Padstow, Rock or St Ives are among the most expensive places to buy a house and get on the property ladder. But what about the places where it’s more affordable?
According to CornwallLive analysis of the latest paid land registry data, Camborne takes the cake as the cheapest place in the county to buy a house. The statistics show that homes in the TR14 postcode area – which includes Camborne – sold for an average of £237,026 in the 12 months to the end of April.
That’s the lowest average sales price of any postcode area in Cornwall. The PL31 postcode area – which includes Bodmin and Dunmere – was next with an average sales price of £242,349.
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That is followed by TR15 (Redruth) with an average of £243,004, and PL14 (Liskeard, Dobwalls, Doublebois, Minions, St Cleer, St Ive and St Neot) with an average of £241,248, and PE2 (Alwalton, Fletton, The Ortons, Stanground and Woodston) with an average of £261,955.
The Office of National Statistics now estimates average house prices in Cornwall at £301,000 as of January 2024, down 2.8 per cent on January 2023. Meanwhile, the average price paid by first-time buyers was £247,000 in January, down from 2.8 per cent. lower than the average of £254,000 a year ago.
The drop in house prices, the longer time it takes to sell a house, sellers increasingly offering price cuts all indicate that the Covid market madness may be over and the real estate bubble has burst.
However, there are still some very expensive areas, especially along the coast, where houses can sell for millions of pounds. While the Camborne area may be the cheapest in the county, at the other end of the scale is the PL23 postcode area.
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Houses there – including Fowey, Bodinnick, Golant and Polruan – sold for an average of £629,987 each in the year to the end of April. PL28 – Padstow, Crugmeer, Porthcothan, St Merryn, Trevone and Treyarnon – is next with an average of £608,186.
That is followed by PL27 (Wadebridge, Little Petherick, Polzeath, Rock, St Eval, St Minver and Trebetherick) with an average of £511,873, and PL29 (Port Isaac, Port Gaverne, Port Quin, St Endellion, Trelights) with an average of £509,792, and TR26 (Saint Ives) with an average of £503,261.
Using our interactive map you can look up the average house price in your postal code area:
Nationally, Middlesbrough appears to be the cheapest place to buy a house in England and Wales. Houses in the TS1 postcode area, which covers the city centre, sold for an average of £69,157 each in the 12 months to the end of April.
That’s fewer than any zip code area in the country with at least 50 sales in the past year. Grimsby is the second cheapest place in the country to buy a house. In postcode area DN31, houses sell for an average of £77,951 each.
In SR1 – Sunderland city center – the average house sold for £79,908. However, there were only 19 sales in the region. In TS3 – Brambles Farm – the average house sold for £86,190, in BD1 – Bradford city center – they sold for an average of £87,653, and in HU2 – Hull – they sold for an average of £87,955.
Belgravia in London has the highest average sales price of any postcode in England and Wales and has had at least 50 sales in the last twelve months. Houses in the SW1X postcode area sold for an average of £4.26 million.
Four other postcode areas had higher averages, but all had fewer than 50 sales: W1J (Mayfair) at £6.12 million, SW1A (Whitehall) at £5.84 million, W1S (Hanover Square) at £5.66 million and W1K (Mayfair) for £5.66 million. £5.378 million.