Prices drift lower toward end of 2012 but January is 'a boom month'

A local estate agent is suggesting that property buyers ignore recently released figures showing prices in Putney were drifting lower at the end of 2012 and focus on current 'boom' conditions which have seen the busiest time for his office in the thirty years of its existence.

The latest information released by the Land Registry shows that the average price of a home sold in the SW15 post code area has continued to fall in the autumn and winter of last year.

77 homes changed hands since the end of September 2012 at an average price of £519,368. This is down on the average seen in the third quarter of 2012 which was £562,656.

7 of the properties sold in the period went for over £1,000,000 with the most expensive of all being a home on Drybrugh Road which cost its new owners £2,069,000.

Local agent Allan Fuller commented on the figures:
"The fact that this report show a small decrease in average prices is really only a quirk of statistics, if the average price has been slightly more the result would have been different. What is more worthwhile to focus on is that an appreciable amount of property changed hands in this period, traditionally not the busiest time in property.

"It is more relevant to read the statistic of a 7% increase in London prices, as this would be far closer to our experience in 2012 for the Putney area.

"Also when we are still in recessionary times for any suburb to have such high average property values shows the underlying strength and desirability of our area. Certainly this is more than borne out by the strength of demand for all types of property in my office. In fact we need far more available property to satisfy the demand that we have!

He continued, "January has for us been something of a boom month, combining the number of sales and lettings deals that we have agreed it has been our busiest month for new business in our 30 years of existence, certainly confirming how popular our town is!

"So for anyone thinking of a move don’t be worried by one set of figures, for a true reflection of what is really happening why not drop in for a chat and a coffee and we can discuss any aspect of property in detail. "

The October data from Land Registry's flagship House Price Index shows an annual price increase of 1.1 per cent which takes the average property value in England and Wales to £161,605. This is marginally up on the previous month. London continues to be the area of the country with the fastest rising prices up by 7.0 per cent over the last year.

The most up-to-date figures available show that during August 2012, the number of completed house sales in England and Wales decreased by 3 per cent to 62,291 compared with 64,417 in August 2011.

The number of properties sold in England and Wales for over £1 million in August 2012 increased by 12 per cent to 843 from 753 in August 2011.

The numbers below are subject to revision as is it usual that some properties are added late to the Land Registry's database. The latest reported sales are given in the table below.

Properties Sold in SW15 - October/November 2012

Copyright notice: All figures in this article are based on data released by the Land Registry. The numbers are derived from analysis performed by PutneySW15.com. Any use of these numbers should jointly attribute the Land Registry and PutneySW15.com.

February 1, 2013