Little New Year cheer for London homeowners

Asking prices are down 3.5 per cent from a year ago, according to a Rightmove report

A sign advertising a house sale in London, where property prices went into decline in 2017 for the first time since 2009. Neil Hall/ EPA

The new year brought little cheer for London’s housing market with asking prices dropping to the lowest since August 2015.

New sellers cut prices 1.4 per cent in January to an average of £600,926 (Dh3 million), according to a report by Rightmove on Monday. In a further concerning sign for the market, the average number of days required to sell a house jumped to the longest since January 2012, reaching 78 from 71 a month earlier.

The report suggests 2018 won’t be any brighter for the capital’s housing market, which was the worst performing in the UK in 2017. Asking prices are down 3.5 per cent from a year ago, according to the report, with the slowdown due to factors including an inflation squeeze, Brexit uncertainty and tax changes affecting landlords and owners of second homes.

__________

Read more:

Check list for purchasing an investment property in the UK

Revealed: Britain’s most expensive street has £17m homes

__________

The figures are evidence of “a bout of realism rather than the usual New Year optimism”, according to the Rightmove director Miles Shipside.

Nationally, the picture is slightly better with UK asking prices rising 0.7 per cent this month, and indicators of activity showing “that demand remains robust”, the report said.

A separate report from LSL Acadata showed average prices in England and Wales rose by just £90 in December, while the annual growth rate fell for the seventh month to just 0.2 per cent - the smallest increase since March 2012. London prices were 4.1 per cent lower in November from a year ago, Acadata said.