Double whammy: Two agencies report more prime London price falls

Two more price reports from high-end agencies make grim reading about the prime London housing market.

New data from Savills suggests that average prime central London house prices have shown a further fall in the second quarter of this year. 

The latest drop was 0.9 per cent in the April-May-June period, leaving prices now no less than 17.6 per cent below their 2014 peak.  

Year-on-year price falls now stand at 3.8 per cent, slightly better than the annual 4.2 per cent fall recorded at the end of the first quarter. 

Average prime London house prices registered a further small fall in the second 

In a more detailed breakdown of the troubled sector, Savills says “properties in immaculate condition” have fallen an average  of 14.5 per cent since peak, while those “in poor condition” are down 20.6 per cent, as agents report a reluctance amongst buyers to take on a refurbishment project with all the budget risks that can entail.

The agency says Georgian properties are down 15.6 per cent, whereas Edwardian properties are down 23.3 per cent. Meanwhile homes built between 2010 and 2015 have seen values fall by a total of 11.5 per cent on average since mid-2014, faring much better than those built in the preceding 10 years, which are down 17.4 per cent.

Rival agency Knight Frank, meanwhile, says the current period of PCL price declines has lasted for almost the same length of time as that recorded in the early 1990s. 

The agency gives a less drastic figure for price falls than Savills, claiming the current peak-to-trough decrease of only around 9.0 per cent on average. 

“Demand remains price-sensitive and driven to an increasing extent by buyers with a need to move, such as schooling or downsizing” says Knight Frank, which says supply has also risen as more landlords attempt to sell following tax changes.