House prices in London edged up 0.2 per cent in August but inflation remained below the UK average growth rate for cities of 1.9 per cent.
However, mortgages for home purchases in London have been increasing slowly following the lower numbers seen since late 2014, suggesting that the decline in London housing sales has bottomed out.
Data from Zoopla and Hometrack shows that 9.7 per cent of live listings had the price reduced – the lowest level for three years.
“We do not expect house price growth to increase but builders and agents in London will welcome any improvement in market activity,” the House Prince Index report said.
Leicester is the fastest growing city as house prices have increased 4.8 per cent, while Aberdeen has the lowest growth in the country with a rate of minus four, according to research by Zoopla and Hometrack. August was the first time since 2012 that no big city saw annual property growth rise above 5 per cent.
Bentham and Reeves director Marc von Grunderr said: “London continues to act as a house price growth anchor for the time being and this is largely being driven from the inside out as those who have seen the largest decline in property values continue to hold fire for greener pastures on the other side of the Brexit bridge.
“However, to view the capital as down and out when it comes to its property pedigree would be very foolish indeed. London is currently a sleeping giant rather than a crumbling carcass and once stability returns, so too will buoyant house price growth.”
The acceleration in house price inflation since 2013, which reached almost 20 per cent in London in 2014, and the slowdown since 2016 are “part of the unfolding house price cycle”, the research said.
| City | Current price | % year-on-year August 2019 |
| London | £483,800 | 0.2 per cent |
| Leicester | £182,900 | 4.8 per cent |
| Liverpool | £124,700 | 4.6 per cent |
| Manchester | £173,000 | 4.5 per cent |
| Cardiff | £211,800 | 4.1 per cent |
| Edinburgh | £235,400 | 4 per cent |
| Birmingham | £168,300 | 3.8 per cent |
| Belfast | £136,400 | 3.6 per cent |
| Leeds | £168,900 | 3.5per cent |
| Glasgow | £127,000 | 3.3 per cent |
| Nottingham | £155,300 | 3.1 per cent |
| Sheffield | £139,600 | 2.8 per cent |
| Bristol | £283,000 | 2.2 per cent |
| Newcastle | £128,900 | 2 per cent |
| Bournemouth | £293,600 | 1.3 per cent |
| Southampton | £228,300 | 0.5 per cent |
| Cambridge | £429,500 | 0.3 per cent |
| Portsmouth | £237,800 | 0.2 per cent |
| Oxford | £409,100 | -0.4 per cent |
| Aberdeen | £158,800 | -4 per cent |
| 20 city index | £257,900 | 1.9 per cent |
| UK | £220,700 | 2.1 per cent |
By Jessica Clark
Source: City AM