Prime London's four year collapse: agency figures show scale of falls

The price per square foot for homes in central London is currently £1,194 - that’s 16.9 per cent below its 2014 peak.

The figure comes from Winkworth which says in its latest review of the central London market that the average per square foot now is slightly above this time last year, but is obviously well below peak.

The agency says central London’s market is now “holding steady” with prices broadly unchanged over the past 12 months and showing only few seasonal variations. 

But it says that after a relatively strong first quarter of this year, the second quarter was more subdued “as the investment market suffered and would-be movers continued to put a hold on their plans as they await a more assured political outlook.”

The company says in prime London its sellers are achieving 92.4 per cent of their asking prices, but also admits that while transactions in the second quarter of this year were 7.5 per cent above the same period of 2017, there were a full 37.7 per cent below the second quarter of 2014 - a few months before stamp duty changes kicked in.

“This year has seen what can only be described as an inverse market, with a busier than normal start to the year and an unusual lull through Q2 which is typically one of the busiest times of the year” says Winkworth’s chief executive Dominic Agace. 

Even so, he says: “Activity has stabilised significantly from the past few years and is now coming to a plateau where it’s still moving steadily, but far below the levels seen in the 2014 peak.  

“With ongoing talk of the Brexit deal and political turbulence, it’s likely that this subdued central London market will continue this way, experiencing only minor fluctuations as we move through each quarter until we have a clearer idea of exactly what Brexit deal and government changes will take place.”