14 buyers fight for each house sold in London
MORE than a dozen potential buyers are now battling for each property coming onto the market in London, according to an estate agent releasing new figures today.
Barnard Marcus reports that there are now 14 people trying to get on the housing ladder for every new instruction to sell in the capital, pushing prices even higher.
The agents say that the average price of a house in London has now pushed past the £400,000 mark for the first time, nearly twice the UK average of £209,199.
The index also suggests that a property in the capital is worth as much as three times more than one in the north east, where a typical house is priced at £133,504.
In the two years since October 2011, average UK house prices have risen by 13.4 per cent, while prices in London are up by nearly £60,000, a 16.4 per cent hike.
Similarly, over the last 12 months, the number of transactions in London has surged up, increasing by 57 per cent, with sales up a third across the country in general.
Chief executive of Barnards Marcus, David Plumtree, said that competition has heated up considerably, attributing a significant part of the boost to falling mortgage interest rates and the stimulative effect of the government’s controversial Help to Buy scheme, which guarantees low-deposit mortgages.
Plumtree continued: “In spite of rising prices, there has been a surge in mortgage applications across the board, demonstrating that buyers are still willing and able to buy.”
The research also shows how the demand and supply of homes in London are becoming even more disconnected, with prices rising but incomes remaining stagnant.
The number of properties coming onto the market with Barnard Marcus has increased by 17 per cent in the past year, but the number of buyers registered has increased at a much faster pace, up by 68 per cent in the same period.