Despite London’s prime property market taking a hit in value, overall prices have increased, new research has revealed.
According to Stirling Ackroyd, the top quarter of London’s property market experienced a fall in value of 2.4% in the past year, compared to a rise of 8.2% for homes outside of the top tier.
Across the whole of London, prices in the past year have risen on average by 6.6% to £533,000.
Out of a total 272 postcode districts in the capital, 47 saw local drops in average property values However 32 of these districts – or an overwhelming 68% – fall within London’s traditional prime top quarter of the property market.
Andrew Bridges, managing director of Stirling Ackroyd, said, “Luxury no longer means profit – or at least you can no longer presume so.
“There are still too few new homes coming onto the majority of the market compared to demand from a growing population – and the majority of the London market is still in tune with, and restrained, by those fundamentals.
“There is also an outwards wave of interest, away from the old peaks of property prices. Within the wider spread of London home buyers, a growing band of increasingly affluent people can no longer afford the most overcrowded traditional areas of prime London – and this demographic of professionals are redefining the map of the capital’s up-and-coming locations. New, dynamic parts of London are emerging further east, driven by a less traditionally exclusive but highly aspirational clientele.”
Districts lying in the West and South West regions of the city are leading the slowdown.
Kensington High Street saw the biggest quarterly decline, with the value of property falling 11.8% in the past year. Despite this drop, the area still boasts an average house price of £1,779,000.
Notting Hill and Chiswick also saw large property price falls over the past year. In Notting Hill house prices dropped 10.0% to £1,523,000, while in Chiswick they fell 7.3% to £952,000.
The top of London’s property leaderboard is dominated by less traditional communities. Eastern Soho led the whole of Greater London for residential property price growth – as prices rose 7.2% over the quarter £1,162,057. Western Soho is not far behind with a rise in residential property values of 7.0%.
Outside of London, Sutton and Croydon both saw property values jump by 5.2% over the quarter, to £345,000 and £391,000 respectively. The average home in Tottenham’s N17 has seen its value rise by 4.9% in the last quarter to £446,000.
Bridges said: “Soho outperforming the likes of Kensington or Notting Hill would have seemed absurd not so long ago. But this is a sign of a changing city – and a changing property market.
“Soho has always seemed at odds with more conventional parts of the West End, offering a vibrant culture more in tune with East London. It now seems to be making a break for freedom with house price growth outpacing its underperforming next-door neighbours. And further afield, a wave eastwards seems to be accelerating – showing the changing nature of momentum across the capital. This surge in prices proves not all of London is refusing to slow down, or take a breather – the rest of the capital is racing ahead.”
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