House prices increased by 2.9% in Crawley in September, new figures show. The rise contributes to the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area grow by 2.9% over the last year. The average Crawley house price in September was £334,425, Land Registry figures show – a 2.9% increase on August. Over the month, the picture was different to that across the South East, where prices decreased 0.6%, and Crawley was above the 0.5% drop for the UK as a whole. Over the last year, the average sale price of property in Crawley rose by £9,500 – putting the area 10th among the South East’s 64 local authorities with price data for annual growth. The highest annual growth in the region was in Test Valley, where property prices increased on average by 8.6%, to £440,000. At the other end of the scale, properties in Hastings lost 9.7% of their value, giving an average price of £266,000. First steps on the property ladder First-time buyers in Crawley spent an average of £301,800 on their property – £9,100 more than a year ago, and £47,000 more than in September 2018. By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £378,000 on average in September – 25.2% more than first-time buyers. Property types Owners of flats saw the biggest rise in property prices in Crawley in September – they increased 3.1%, to £211,535 on average. Over the last year, prices rose by 4.5%. Among other types of property: How do property prices in Crawley compare? Buyers paid 14.7% less than the average price in the South East (£392,000) in September for a property in Crawley. Across the South East, property prices are high compared to those across the UK, where the average cost is £291,000. The most expensive properties in the South East were in Elmbridge – £705,000 on average, and 2.1 times the price as in Crawley. Elmbridge properties cost 2.9 times the price as homes in Southampton (£244,000 average), at the other end of the scale. The highest property prices across the UK were in Kensington and Chelsea. Factfile Average property price in September Annual change to September Highest and lowest annual growth in the South East