LonRes: It’s been a mixed year for prime London property

It has been a mixed year for prime London markets, with some areas faring better than others when it comes to price growth and sales, LonRes claims.

The property data firm said while headline price growth across prime London have peaked at 8.9% annually in July, it fell to 1.9% in November.

The picture for local markets within prime London is much more varied. 

The market with the highest growth was Marylebone at 12.7% annual growth in prices per square foot between January and November 2022. 

The second highest was Knightsbridge & Belgravia at 9.3%, while some areas such as Kensington and Mayfair saw growth of 1.8% and 2.2% respectively.

Property sales in prime London fell 4.8% annually in November, LonRes said.

However, the majority of local markets recorded much higher transactions between January and November this yea.

Chelsea reported the biggest increase at 40.6% annually compared with 2019 with Kensington, Notting Hill and Holland Park not far behind at 37.1%. However, there were some exceptions with lower sales in a couple of prime Fringe markets including Vauxhall and Hammersmith where activity fell 29.9%.

In some more positive news, prime agency instructions were up 4.6% annually in November.

Anthony Payne, managing director of LonRes, said: “It’s been a mixed year for the housing market in general and for prime London in particular. 
“As we report, not all areas of prime London are equal and some have fared better than others over the year.  But as we also report transactions are up in some of the most expensive areas of prime London and this is what we’re hearing from agents too. 

“In the final weeks of 2022 we have seen a flurry of top-end sales which include a flat with an asking price of £34.5m, a house priced at £13m, another at £10.5m and flats at £6.8m and at £5m.  It seems there’s a lot of last minute Christmas shopping currently underway in central London. 

“It’s the lack of choice that’s underpinning this market and acting as a support to prices.  This will continue to be the case so long as there are still buyers out there looking to buy. 

“On the lettings front there continues to be a dearth of properties to rent.  Private landlords we hear are selling up and corporate landlords are not able to add supply fast enough to meet demand.  It’s difficult to see what will act as a catalyst for change and in the meantime, rents keep rising.”

Source: LonRes