Annual house price growth fell substantially in London while falling less dramatically across England and Wales, according to new figures from Your Move.
The estate agent’s House Price Index for October shows that year-on-year prices in the capital grew by 1.8% compared to 3% for the previous twelvemonth.
On a national scale, that figure has dropped by just 0.1% to 1% and the monthly result is brighter, showing a rise of 0.4%, the first national increase since February. Your Move reports that the average price of a house in England and Wales is now £304,433, up from £301,367 last month.
Mixed picture nationally
Analysing performance in London highlights the mixed picture from the report, both on a national and regional scale. At the top end of the capital market, prices in Kensington and Chelsea and the City of Westminster fell by 0.8% and 14.4% respectively. Barking and Dagenham and Bexley, the two cheapest boroughs showed rises of 0.9% and 1.1%, tallying with Hometrack’s recent UK Cities House Price Index. Despite that, Your Move report that there has been an increase £10,889 to take the average price of a property in London to £620,571 over the last 12 months.
Yorkshire and Humber also showed a mark annual decline in house price growth, dropping from 2.2% to 0.7%, while prices actually fell in the south-east and the north-east.
The report underlines how the market, while showing variations when looking on a granular basis, is holding on due to Brexit and the economy. “Uncertainty is a dominant driver in the market, with many people choosing to sit tight until there is greater clarity about the future,” it states.
‘It’s not all doom and gloom’
However, Oliver Blake, Your Move’s Managing Director, is more positive in his review of the figures, saying, “Whilst price growth has slowed considerably in England and Wales, the fact that there is a relatively strong economic backdrop, and there have been three consecutive months of growth, means it’s not all doom and gloom.”
The Halifax recently found that house price growth had fallen to 1.5% in the three months to October, while the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors also showed a wide range of regional variations.
