London house price slowdown worsens as luxury areas lose value
House prices losses in London accelerated in June as the capital’s most sought-after postcodes shed value again.
The average house price in London dropped by 3.3 per cent in July to £550,000, worse than June’s 2.5 per cent fall, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
The capital’s most affluent postcodes have suffered sharp drop-offs in property values in recent months, and this run of losses continued in July.
In Camden – which includes sought-after areas like Hampstead, Highgate and Primrose Hill – the rate of house price losses sped from 7.1 to 10.1 per cent, falling to £815,000.
The rate of losses slowed slightly in some other affluent areas. House prices in Westminster – which covers Mayfair, Belgravia and St John’s Wood – dropped by 20.7 per cent to £877,000 in July, compared to a 25.4 per cent fall in the month prior.
House price losses slowed from 14.7 to 14.1 per cent in Kensington and Chelsea, and from 13.3 to nine per cent in Hammersmith and Fulham.
Jonathan Hopper, chief executive of homes portal Garrington Property Finders, said that buyers are slowly being tempted back to the capital by “the sense that there are bargains to be had”.
“No-one rings a bell when a falling market hits the bottom, but after months of correction it appears that London prices are now bumping along the seabed rather than sinking,” he added.
London suffers from ‘sky-high prices’
Outside of London, the South West was the only UK region not to see property market growth in July, where the average house price fell by 0.2 per cent.
House prices jumped by 4.9 per cent to £167,000 in the North East and by 4.4 per cent to £221,000 in the North West.
Property market experts have sounded the alarm in recent months that the higher property values in London and the South mean that buyers are disproportionately affected by taxes like stamp duty.
Sarah Coles, head of personal finance at AJ Bell, said: “The sky-high cost of property means anyone considering a purchase is taking a huge step financially, and clearly a significant number of buyers don’t have it in them right now.
“In London, this has long-since tipped over into price falls, so we saw the 11th consecutive month of annual drops.”