£8,500 slump in price of homes in Darwen (From Chorley Citizen)

£8,500 slump in price of homes in Darwen

8:00pm Thursday 25th August 2011

HOUSE prices in Darwen have crashed by an average of £8,533 in a year.

Latest information on sales during the last 12 months from the Land Registry shows that homes in the town sold on average for £107,868.

That's down 7.33 per cent on the same time last year and 10.7 per cent down on the figure for three years ago.

Darwen councillor Roy Davies said it was “a worrying trend” and blamed empty houses, too many buy-to-let homes and anti-social behaviour.

Neighbours Blackburn and Accrington have also seen price falls, but at less dramatic rates.

In Blackburn, the average house in the past 12 months sold for £126,039 – 2.3 per cent down on last year – and in Accrington, the average house price fell 1.09 per cent to £102,178.

Coun Davies said: “We have a lot of terrace housing in Darwen and I think the problem stems from renting.

“You get one house let to a bad tenant, then that makes the neighbours either side want to move.

You get that going on along the street, and the prices drop.

“Also, there are 2,000 empty houses in this town, some that have been like that for 10 years, and that has a knock-on effect on the price of nearby homes.

“We need to get some of the unemployed youngsters to renovate these empty houses and get them available for first-time buyers.”

A spokesman for Your Move estate agents in Market Street, Darwen, said: “It’s hard to say why there is such a marked difference in Darwen.

"Tt’s surprising. We’re finding that it’s the lower end of the market that’s selling.

“There are a lot of repossessions and a lot of investors buying them to rent out.”

By contrast, in Clitheroe the average house price rose in the same period by 0.90 per cent to an average of £220,823.

The average house in Lancashire sold for 144,580 in the past 12 months, down 4.06 per cent on last year.