Tonight:
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Average house up 7% in year to £315,400
Mira Bar-Hillel24.12.07
London house prices are ending this year at an average of £315,400 - just over seven per cent higher than at its start.
The figures, published today by price monitor Hometrack, show this has been a year of two halves.
The first few months saw prices rocketing, only to fall away after the end of the summer as the credit crunch began to bite.
In the last two months prices in the capital fell by an average of
0.4 per cent. Not one borough recorded price rises.
The biggest falls were in Merton, where the average price fell by £5,000, and Harrow, where it was down by £4,900.
In Hammersmith & Fulham the average price was down £4,200 and in Westminster by £4,100.
Hometrack economist Richard Donnell said: "The London property market rocketed in the first half of the year.
"However, the impact of the credit crunch and concerns over the outlook for the financial markets led to a major reversal in fortunes for the market.
"Lower sales volumes and the unwillingness of buyers to commit given the uncertain outlook resulted in a major loss of momentum from the summer onwards, with price falls of 0.4 per cent over the second half of the year."
The news will bring some relief to first-time buyers but it is not good enough to overcome the affordability crisis in the capital.
Last week, it emerged that the number of first-time buyers in London has fallen by 40 per cent since 2002.
Mr Donnell said: "There is likely to be a lack of housing coming to the market in the first part of the new year but buyers are likely to remain cautious over the outlook and will still seek discounts.
"We expect London house prices to rise by no more than 1.5 per cent in 2008 - below the rate of inflation."
| Region | Dec-06 | Nov-07 | Dec-07 | £ uplift last month | Price change over last month | Price change over last year |
| Barking and Dagenham | 147800 | £161,400 | 161200 | -£200 | -0.1% | 9.1% |
| Barnet | 306100 | £327,500 | 325900 | -£1,600 | -0.5% | 6.5% |
| Bexley | 175100 | £185,000 | 184100 | -£900 | -0.5% | 5.1% |
| Brent | 258800 | £278,200 | 276300 | -£1,900 | -0.7% | 6.8% |
| Bromley | 252800 | £273,800 | 273500 | -£300 | -0.1% | 8.2% |
| Camden | 376500 | £414,900 | 413700 | -£1,200 | -0.3% | 9.9% |
| City of London | 385700 | £421,400 | 421000 | -£400 | -0.1% | 9.2% |
| City of Westminster | 471500 | £517,300 | 513200 | -£4,100 | -0.8% | 8.8% |
| Croydon | 210300 | £220,200 | 220200 | £0 | 0.0% | 4.7% |
| Ealing | 313600 | £333,900 | 333200 | -£700 | -0.2% | 6.3% |
| Enfield | 264400 | £288,400 | 286700 | -£1,700 | -0.6% | 8.4% |
| Greenwich | 192300 | £198,100 | 197500 | -£600 | -0.3% | 2.7% |
| Hackney | 236800 | £256,600 | 255600 | -£1,000 | -0.4% | 7.9% |
| Hammersmith and Fulham | 376700 | £419,200 | 415000 | -£4,200 | -1.0% | 10.2% |
| Haringey | 280600 | £302,800 | 300400 | -£2,400 | -0.8% | 7.1% |
| Harrow | 272200 | £288,400 | 283500 | -£4,900 | -1.7% | 4.2% |
| Havering | 200500 | £207,200 | 207000 | -£200 | -0.1% | 3.2% |
| Hillingdon | 225000 | £236,300 | 234900 | -£1,400 | -0.6% | 4.4% |
| Hounslow | 213000 | £231,500 | 231300 | -£200 | -0.1% | 8.6% |
| Islington | 387300 | £412,600 | 412600 | £0 | 0.0% | 6.5% |
| Kensington & Chelsea | 668300 | £732,900 | 730000 | -£2,900 | -0.4% | 9.2% |
| Kingston-upon-Thames | 285300 | £308,100 | 305000 | -£3,100 | -1.0% | 6.9% |
| Lambeth | 272600 | £287,600 | 287000 | -£600 | -0.2% | 5.3% |
| Lewisham | 173700 | £184,900 | 184900 | £0 | 0.0% | 6.4% |
| Merton | 317600 | £357,000 | 352000 | -£5,000 | -1.4% | 10.8% |
| Newham | 175100 | £185,100 | 185100 | £0 | 0.0% | 5.7% |
| Redbridge | 251000 | £263,500 | 264000 | £500 | 0.2% | 5.2% |
| Richmond-upon-Thames | 408000 | £440,800 | 439900 | -£900 | -0.2% | 7.8% |
| Southwark | 292500 | £314,500 | 312000 | -£2,500 | -0.8% | 6.7% |
| Sutton | 214400 | £233,300 | 232800 | -£500 | -0.2% | 8.6% |
| Tower Hamlets | 245700 | £270,600 | 268700 | -£1,900 | -0.7% | 9.4% |
| Waltham Forest | 217600 | £223,300 | 222600 | -£700 | -0.3% | 2.3% |
| Wandsworth | 327100 | £361,200 | 359400 | -£1,800 | -0.5% | 9.9% |
| Greater London | 293400 | £315,400 | 314100 | -£1,300 | -0.4% | 7.1% |
Reader views (1)
This story is great news for homeowners yet it has been written with a feeling of doom and gloom. I run my own business and I never look at my takings on a monthly basis, you can never tell what each month will bring, the only important rise or fall is over the whole tax year and it looks to me like London homeowners are quids in.
- Casperslides, Bath, UK
