Fall in property prices
Prime London properties are selling with an average ‘discount’ of over 11%
Posted: Sept, 2018
It’s still a buyer’s market for luxury London property, says Coutts Bank, but the market has ‘stabilised significantly’ & ‘could be levelling out’.
Research out from Coutts Bank using Lonres data suggest that property prices in prime London continued to fall in the last few months – but that the rate of decline seems to slowing.
“Current conditions [in the prime London property market] may be beneficial for buyers but even though the market is still falling, there are some signs it could be levelling out.”
According to the Lonres data the average price in prime London fell by 0.3% in the three months to June (data for postcodes from Putney to Holborn; Hampstead to Wimbledon), compared to a much larger 3% drop in the first quarter of the year. It is now 1.7% lower than a year ago and 14% below 2014’s peak.
JLL recorded a 0.1% dip in prices across PCL postcodes in Q2; Savills and Knight Frank both saw average sold prices drop by 0.9% in the three month period. Savills is now estimating the annual change in PCL to be -3.8%, while Knight Frank puts the annual fall at a less chunky -1.8%. LonRes has recorded a 16% bounce in sales volumes across prime London in the three months to the end of June – but deal numbers are still 17% below their level at the same time last year, and only around half of 2013’s volume.
Knight Frank estimates that the peak-to-trough difference this time around is -9% in PCL (less than in the 1990s), but Savills puts PCL’s average fall since 2014’s peak at a more considerable -17.6%.
Half of London’s £1m+ homes are now being sold at a discount compared to the asking price, says Coutts, with buyers getting a little over 11% off on average.
“It’s still a buyers market for luxury London property but prices are falling at a lower pace.”