MortgagesAug 9 2018

Greater London house prices retreat once more

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Greater London house prices retreat once more

House prices in Greater London nudged downwards in the second quarter of 2018, falling 0.4 per cent on the same quarter on 2017, according to new data.

The LonRes Residential Review – which documents London house price movements - found that Greater London house prices contracted despite UK house prices growing by 3 per cent during the period.

The reduction in the second quarter came as the Land Registry recorded a fourth consecutive monthly fall in May, the report said.

It noted that while Greater London struggled, prime Central London property prices staged something of a comeback in Q2, with modest price rises of 1.2 per cent, compared to the second quarter of 2017.

“Prices edged up in prime central London this quarter, but political uncertainty continues to put the brakes on transaction volumes,” the report noted.

“Greater London, which since 2015 had outperformed prime central, continued to slow in the second quarter.”

The report added that property prices in SE1, SE11, SW4, SW5, SW6, SW11, W4, W6, W9, W10 post codes, which it labelled ‘Prime Fringe’, were also impacted, down 5 per cent during the second quarter of 2018, compared to the same period in 2017.

Aaron Strutt, communications director at London-based adviser Trinity Financial, said demand for mortgages in London remains robust, although there has been a bit of a cloud over Central London estate agents in recent months.

He said: “As a business, we are still speaking to a lot of people. There is still demand, although we are doing more remortgages than we are purchases. The only difficulty is stamp duty which seems to be holding people back.

“When we speak to estate agents, they have been selling fewer properties in Central London due to the stamp duty changes. So, while we think the market is relatively buoyant from a mortgage point of view, some estate agents will likely give you a different opinion."