Prime property asking prices rocket ahead in London
12-07-2012
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Overall UK prime property prices are up £15,227, some 3.3%, over the last 12 months and the growth is speeding up and with UK prime property prices now standing at £482,537, the gap between the asking prices of the average UK property and prime properties continues to widen. Compared to one year ago, prime asking prices are up in every region of the UK except Scotland, the North East and Yorkshire and Humberside.
The strongest regional performance over the past year has been seen in London, where Prime asking prices have risen by 16.5% or £190,038.
‘The prime market continues to defy gravity, especially in London and it’s no surprise to see asking prices hitting record heights this month. The UK’s wealthiest home owners are seeing the value of their properties rocket whilst the rest of the market is flat at best and going backwards in many parts of the country,’ said Nigel Lewis of PrimeLocation.
While London has seen a 16.5% increase in the last year the next largest jump was in the north west of England, up 6.4%, followed by the West Midlands up 4% and Wales up 3%. The East of England saw a rise of 2.6%, south east England a rise of 2.1%, the East Midlands a rise of 1.4% and south west England a rise of 1.3%.
Scotland saw a fall in prime property prices of 4.5%, the north east of England was down 3.7% and Yorkshire and Humber was down 2.5%.
Asking price growth is particularly pronounced in London where prices reached record heights for the fifth consecutive month. ‘The prime London market has consistently performed well, even during the downturn, but the increases over the past year highlight just how aggressive this market is,’ said Lewis.
‘The fact that this price growth is also accelerating, against a backdrop of a struggling economy, simply reinforces that London’s prime market is totally unique and seemingly unshakable,’ he added.
In London the borough with the greatest average increase in asking prices was Wandsworth, up 31% compared to a year ago, followed by Hammersmith and Fulham up 26.4% and Lambeth up 22.2%.
Haringey saw an increase of 21.6%, Barnet was u[ 19.7%, Ealing up 19.2%, Southwark up 18.2%, Richmond upon Thames up 18.1%, Hackney up 17.7% and Camden up 16.5%.
