London’s house price surge hits the buffers as demand declines
The housing market resurgence that started last year appears to be slowing down after rapid price hikes, with the higher valuations increasingly putting off potential buyers, especially in London.
A set of data released this morning by Hometrack shows just a 0.1 per cent month-on-month increase in August across the country. London prices were completely unchanged during the month, with a 3.9 per cent drop in the number of new potential buyers registered, and a 0.4 per cent increase in properties listed.
The amount of time homes are spending on the market in London is also climbing – six months ago, properties were advertised for just 2.7 weeks typically. Now, the average period has climbed to 4.9 weeks.
The number of postcodes seeing an increase in prices has also been slashed dramatically. In February, 86.7 per cent of areas in the capital reported higher prices. The share is now down to 10.9 per cent.
Hometrack director of research Richard Donnell suggested the slowdown was more than just the effect of a sluggish summer: “This is not a huge surprise for August, but the signs of a slowdown in market activity were starting to emerge back in May with evidence of growing resistance to rapid price rises in the London market.”