Average price of a home in SW15 rises above £600,000 for the first time

The average price of a home in SW15 has risen above £600,000 according to the latest official figures.

Land Registry data for the first quarter of 2013 shows that 170 homes were sold in the area at an average of £607,103, the first time the level has risen above the £600,000 mark and the highest level since the third quarter of 2011.

The figure is all the more notable given that the trend seen at the end of last year, in which a larger proportion of transactions were for flats rather than houses, has continued. 126 of the 170 properties sold were flats and the number of terraced houses sold in the area was down by 28.3%

This trend has led some agents to suggest that a 'family home shortage is developing' with relatively few 4+ bedroom properties coming to the market.

The prices of both flats and terraced houses are at record levels according to the latest figures although over the longer term the latter have substantially outperformed up by 158.4% over the last decade compared to just 78.2% for flats.

Local agent Allan Fulller said:
"Again official statistics confirm what we see in that values are moving forward substantially. We saw an increase in activity towards the end of 2012, however this has gathered considerable momentum and grown into the greatest demand for property since 2007. The reasons are primarily because there is pent up demand from people who have wanted to buy but were concerned by the economic climate, however the low interest rates, increasing mortgage availability, and the basic desire in the UK to own your own property has now combined in London to create a surge of demand.

"There is still a dichotomy between the capital and elsewhere, the London economy is quite different and overall is very buoyant, let’s hope that filters out more. We have been obtaining prices that are at least 10% more than similar properties would have achieved last year, so Putney is certainly in the vanguard of the upsurge of London property."

Allan continued: " The slowdown in house sales is lack of supply, there is plenty of demand, the problem we feel is largely due to the cost of moving, a vast increase in Stamp Duty, particularly at the upper end, 7% tax over two million is a massive amount and is simply persuading potential movers in this area of the market to stay put, not sell and move up market and instead extend their property, so creating a log jam in the market. The simple rule of taxation which is that if anything is taxed too much the tax revenue will decline, has been forgotten here and instead of increasing revenue for the government it will have reduced. The whole area of Stamp Duty needs review, it is a tax that various governments fiddle with but never seem to look at how it works overall and a more fair system is long overdue across the market, starting with first time buyers, certainly in London the jump to a 3% tax at £250,000 is unfair, and distorts the market."

The March data from Land Registry's House Price Index shows that London remains the best performing property market in England and Wales. The average price of a home in the capital rose by 9.6% over the year to £374,568.

For the country as a whole prices only rose by 0.% which takes the average property value in England and Wales to £161,793. London has seen a rise in repossessions which were up by 28% in January 2013 compared with the same month in 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.

August 23, 2013