RIGHTMOVE’S HOUSE PRICE INDEX – JANUARY 2019

LONDON HOUSING TRENDS

London house prices drop below £600,000 for first time since 2015

• The price of property coming to market in London falls by 1.5% (-£9,024) this month
• Larger-than-usual seasonal fall reduces average new seller asking prices to below £600,000 for the first time since August 2015, and well below their peak of nearly £650,000 in May 2016
• Slow start to 2019 for number of new listings as price and political backdrop combine to deter owners from coming to market, with the first two weeks down 10.0% on same period in 2018

The average asking price of property coming to market in London falls by 1.5% (-£9,024) this month. Price drops are not unusual at this time of year, which includes much of the quieter December period as well as the beginning of January. However the fall is marginally worse than the 1.4% drop recorded at the same time of year twelve months ago, and is the largest January fall since 2012. As a consequence, average new seller asking prices are now below £600,000 for the first time since August 2015.

Miles Shipside, Rightmove director and housing market analyst comments: “The time of year and continuing price re-adjustment of parts of the London market have lead to the largest fall at this time of year for seven years. This is good news for prospective buyers as we go into a traditionally busier time of year, as those looking at what fresh stock is available are seeing average asking prices at their cheapest level for over three years. The last time that they hovered below £600,000 was around the time of the 2015 election. The annual rate of increase then jumped up as high as 11% to reach a record of nearly £650,000.”

From the price peak in May 2016 there was a slowdown and then a reversal in the pace of price rises, leading to the current situation of annual price falls currently at 1.2%. Combined with the costs of moving and the uncertain political backdrop, this appears to be deterring some owners from coming to market. There has been a slow start to 2019 for the number of new listings, which are down 10.0% in the first two weeks compared with the same period in 2018.

Shipside notes: “London, which is perhaps feeling more closely affected by the uncertainty associated with Brexit, currently has some of the most reluctant owners when it comes to putting their properties up for sale. While the first two weeks of the new year have seen broadly the same  number of new-to-the-market sellers nationally (-2.1%) compared with the same period a year ago, London has seen a fall of 10.0%. So frustratingly for those looking to buy, whilst asking prices are 1.2% cheaper than they were a year ago, new-to-the-market choice is substantially down.”

London Trends

London Borough Data

Borough data is now based on a three month rolling average and can be used as an indicator of overall price trends in each borough over time. It is not directly comparable with the overall London monthly figures.