Slowdown in London house price growth eases; Bristol posts biggest drop
The slowdown in the growth of London house prices appears to be abating, leaving Bristol as the UK city with the biggest drop in property prices expansion last month, according to new figures.
Upward pressure on prices in the capital is returning following weak annual growth since the start of 2016, amid a fall in sales as homeowners refuse to sell up for lower valuations, according to the property firm Hometrack.
Bristol recorded a steeper fall in house price growth, after a boom in recent years began to push homes in the city to unaffordable levels for an increasing number of buyers.
Housing turnover across London has fallen by 17 per cent since 2015, as affordability pressures ratchet up with higher prices. The average price of a home in the capital rose 2.8 per cent to £494,300 in the year to July, albeit slower than the 11.2 per cent expansion in the same period a year ago, the Hometrack figures show.
House prices in Bristol were 3.7 per cent higher than in July 2016, compared with a growth rate of 14.3 per cent a year ago. But while the average price for a property, £268,400, remains low compared to other cities, prices have rocketed about 60 per cent since the financial crisis as growing numbers of people move to the area.
