Massive price falls in London distorts national picture, says agency

New figures from Your Move suggest that average house prices across England and Wales barely moved in 2017, increasing just 0.2 per cent.

Average house price in England and Wales now stands at £300,846 says the agency. This is a modest £553 up year on year, but £5,200 under the peak in March. 

Bristol sets the pace with prices up 8.9 per cent during 2017 while in the full South West region they increased by 5.3 per cent.

However, London is in significant trouble with transaction levels down 3.0 per cent last year and prices down 4.1 per cent.

Some London boroughs have seen huge price falls according to Your Move, with a drop in Southwark of 21.1 per cent, with values down 19.4 per cent in the City of Westminster, down 13.6 per cent in Hammersmith and Fulham, dropping 12.1 per cent in Wandsworth and 9.3 per cent in Kensington and Chelsea.

However Your Move insists that so far, ripples from the slowdown in London have only really reached the South East, where annual growth has slowed to 1.0 per cent by the end of December, from 1.8 per cent a month earlier. 

“The end of 2017 was relatively quiet for house movers, particularly in the capital. Outside of London, however, the majority of regions still reported growth over the month, demonstrating that there is still some strength going into the new year” according to Oliver Blake, managing director of Your Move and Reeds Rains.