London House prices
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London house price growth remains below UK city average

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.

CityCurrent price% year-on-year August 2019
London£483,8000.2 per cent
Leicester£182,9004.8 per cent
Liverpool£124,7004.6 per cent
Manchester£173,0004.5 per cent
Cardiff£211,8004.1 per cent
Edinburgh£235,4004 per cent
Birmingham£168,3003.8 per cent
Belfast£136,4003.6 per cent
Leeds£168,9003.5per cent
Glasgow£127,0003.3 per cent
Nottingham£155,3003.1 per cent
Sheffield£139,6002.8 per cent
Bristol£283,0002.2 per cent
Newcastle£128,9002 per cent
Bournemouth£293,6001.3 per cent
Southampton£228,3000.5 per cent
Cambridge£429,5000.3 per cent
Portsmouth£237,8000.2 per cent
Oxford£409,100-0.4 per cent
Aberdeen£158,800-4 per cent
20 city index£257,9001.9 per cent
UK£220,7002.1 per cent

By Jessica Clark

Source: City AM

Marketing No Comments

London house price growth falters despite annual spring surge

House prices in London remain down year-on-year despite the annual spring surge, driven by a slump in inner city sales, according to property website Rightmove.

Greater London recorded a monthly rise of 1.2 per cent, equivalent to £7,339, pushed largely by outer London properties that rose 1.9 per cent. Inner London prices, meanwhile, registered a bump of just 0.6 per cent.

“Price increases are the norm at this time of year, with only one fall in the last ten years,” Rightmove’s housing analyst Miles Shipside said.

“New seller asking prices have risen at this time of year for the last four years, and this year it seems that sellers in outer London are leading the way in asking for higher prices. Given the uncertain state of the London housing market in both London and its surrounding commuter belt, it remains to be seen how successful they will be.”

Compared to 12 months ago, homes in outer London are 0.9 per cent cheaper, whereas prices in inner London have fallen by 3.8 per cent. Homes in Greater London were, on average, £16,157 – 2.5 per cent – cheaper than they were a year ago, and cost, on average, £621,589.

All but two boroughs have new sellers asking less on average than a year ago. Only Barking and Dagenham (+0.9 per cent), in east London, and Bexley (+0.6 per cent), in the south east, have held their year-on-year value, and they were the two cheapest boroughs last month.

Nationally, the more active spring market prompted a modest increase to an average asking price of £308,290, a rise of 0.1 per cent in the past 12 months.

“I’ve noticed an increase in viewings and offers over the last few weeks,” Jak Kypri, director of Harpers & Co Estate Agents in Bexley, said. “I think it’s because there is less talk about Brexit. Things have calmed down now; they all went away for Easter, the sun is shining, people are cutting the grass in their gardens, the country seems slightly less tense.”

Rightmove’s monthly price index measured 133,690 asking prices this month, about 90 per cent of the UK market.

By Sam Buckingham-Jones

Source: City A.M.