Asking prices for London homes fall by most since 2009, but overall UK market remains robust
Property website Rightmove says prices are still rising in the rest of the country, while separate data shows rents also continue to increase
The prices that sellers of London homes are seeking for their properties fell by the most since the financial crisis this month, at a time when prices in most of the rest of Britain are rising, industry figures showed on Monday.
London’s once red-hot housing market has slowed for the past year due to a double hit from higher purchase taxes on expensive homes and the June 2016 Brexit vote, which hurt demand from foreign buyers and raised fears of big job losses in the capital’s financial industry.
Rightmove, Britain’s biggest property website, said the average asking price for a home in London this month was £600,926 (US$826,094), 3.5 per cent lower than a year before and the biggest drop since June 2009.
Most of the rest of Britain saw year-on-year increases in asking prices of 4 per cent or more, and the average asking price in Britain was just under £300,000.
“Early indicators of activity in this year’s housing market show that demand remains robust,” Rightmove said.
There have been other signs of a slowing in London’s housing market. Mortgage lender Nationwide said earlier this month that prices in the capital fell by 0.5 per cent in 2017, their first full-year fall since 2009.