London is “acting as a drag” on the rest of the UK housing market, with prices across the capital falling in the last year, according to new figures from property giant Rightmove.
While some regions in the UK such as the midlands and the north west started to kick the Brexit uncertainty that has gripped the housing market in recent years, Greater London average asking prices fell 2.5 per cent annually.
A sales slump in central London saw average asking prices fall 3.8 per cent annually to £757,773 in inner-city areas, while the average in outer London, including cheaper boroughs such as Bexley, Barking and Dagenham fell 0.9 per cent to £512,726.
This came despite the annual spring surge in prices, which only drove Greater London up 1.2 per cent on a monthly basis.
The slumps compared to a record-breaking year in other parts of the UK, however, as average asking prices in Wales, the Midlands and the north west of England bucked any Brexit blues to hit all-time highs, Rightmove found.
London boroughs
Worst hit in the capital was Westminster, where average asking prices fell 6.3 per centannually – but still clocked in at an eye-watering £1.4m. The same was true of Britain’s most expensive area to live, Kensington and Chelsea, where average asking prices fell 3.9 per cent year-on-year to £1.6m.
Kensington and Chelsea saw a 3.9 per cent annual fall (Source: Getty)
The only boroughs to see an annual rise in average asking price were Bexley and Barking and Dagenham, two of London’s cheapest areas. Bexley rose 0.6 per cent to £408,233, while Barking and Dagenham rose 0.9 per cent to £316,839.
Meanwhile in zones one and two, Lambeth fell 4.7 per cent to £632,590, Hackney fell 4.9 per cent to £626,000 and Tower Hamlets fell 6.1 per cent to £559,475.
Jeremy Leaf, north London estate agent and a former Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics) residential chairman, said: “London is acting as a drag on the rest of the UK housing market and prices don’t include inflation so have risen or fallen further in real terms.
“The spring bounce is taking place but not reaching to the heights we would have expected and certainly not in the capital.”
Borough |
Avg. price May 2019 |
Monthly change |
Annual change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Barking and Dagenham | £316,839 | 1.0 per cent | 0.9 per cent |
| Bexley | £408,233 | 1.2 per cent | 0.6 per cent |
| Hammersmith and Fulham | £931,171 | 0.9 per cent | -0.2 per cent |
| Sutton | £470,697 | 2.5 per cent | -0.3 per cent |
| Southwark | £634,232 | -1.8 per cent | -0.5 per cent |
| Islington | £770,123 | 1.1 per cent | -0.8 per cent |
| Hillingdon | £492,585 | 1.7 per cent | -0.9 per cent |
| Bromley | £530,492 | 0.5 per cent | -0.9 per cent |
| Waltham Forest | £481,926 | 0.8 per cent | -1.0 per cent |
| Enfield | £457,398 | 0.8 per cent | -1.2 per cent |
| Ealing | £555,611 | 0.8 per cent | -1.4 per cent |
| Havering | £406,075 | -1.2 per cent | -1.5 per cent |
| Brent | £577,818 | 1.5 per cent | -1.5 per cent |
| Camden | £980,210 | 1.2 per cent | -1.5 per cent |
| Newham | £407,868 | -0.3 per cent | -1.8 per cent |
| Merton | £645,116 | 2.7 per cent | -2.0 per cent |
| Hounslow | £540,484 | -0.9 per cent | -2.0 per cent |
| Croydon | £437,195 | 1.2 per cent | -2.2 per cent |
| Kingston upon Thames | £610,076 | 0.4 per cent | -2.3 per cent |
| Harrow | £549,634 | 0.4 per cent | -2.3 per cent |
| Redbridge | £451,503 | -0.4 per cent | -3.2 per cent |
| Richmond upon Thames | £832,012 | 2.7 per cent | -3.3 per cent |
| Wandsworth | £793,014 | -2.4 per cent | -3.5 per cent |
| Lewisham | £464,200 | 1.3 per cent | -3.5 per cent |
| Barnet | £639,192 | 0.7 per cent | -3.5 per cent |
| Greenwich | £441,287 | -0.1 per cent | -3.5 per cent |
| Haringey | £602,170 | -0.1 per cent | -3.7 per cent |
| Kensington and Chelsea | £1,590,380 | 4.8 per cent | -3.9 per cent |
| Lambeth | £632,590 | 0.8 per cent | -4.7 per cent |
| Hackney | £626,095 | 0.1 per cent | -4.9 per cent |
| Tower Hamlets | £559,475 | -0.5 per cent | -6.1 per cent |
| Westminster | £1,400,270 | -1.7 per cent | -6.3 per cent |
The rest of the UK
The rest of the country painted a very different picture, according to Rightmove.
For homes coming to market this month in Wales, the Midlands and the north western England, average asking prices hit all-time highs, as a shortage of demand pushed prices up.
Wales broke through the £200,000 barrier for the first time ever, at £200,386, rising 4.1 per cent year-on-year, while houses in the west Midlands rose three per cent to £232,247.
The north west of England, including Manchester (pictured) saw an annual rise in prices (Source: Getty)
But for those commuting into central London from outside the capital, prices fell. In the south east of England, the annual average asking price fell 1.1 per cent to £407,239.
Rightmove director Miles Shipside said buyers were largely ignoring Brexit, with buyers spurred into action in the record-breaking regions.
“Despite the ongoing political uncertainty, agents are reporting that the lure of the right property at the right price still attracts good interest. In spite of some of the challenges in the market, interest in property remains very high,” he said.
By Alex Daniel
Source: City AM