Average price of a terrace sold so far this year approaching a million

The average price of a home sold in Acton has reached new record levels so far this year. It has risen by 8.5% over the last twelve months to £642,216 according to the latest figures from the Land Registry.

However, the headline figure masks a more mixed picture for local property. There has been a fall in the average price and number of transactions for flats whereas houses are seeing more activity with values firm. The price of the average terraced house in the W3 post code area is approaching a million pounds. Much of the rise in the average is due to the change of the mix of properties sold with the proportion of houses much higher than normal.

Donald Collins of Go View London estate agents said, "This is now me working through my fourth General Election in the London property market, and the market is better than what many would have you believe. We have a lot of pent-up demand from family buyers at present looking to buy large terrace homes or semi-detached houses."

There have been several properties selling for over a million in the area including a detached house on Perryn Road which changed hands for £2,317,000.

The average price of a flat sold so far this year was down 13.3% from the levels seen at the end of 2016 and volumes have more than halved from the same period last year although late reported sales may increase the number for this year. There is a substantial amount of new supply to come to the market locally particularly from the Acton Gardens development.

Donald Collins added, "The flat market is not performing as well as the family house market, and this could yet have an effect on the overall market. Essentially, the ‘Brexit’ vote and process, and the changes to the investment market has a knock-on effect for the overall market given flats are not achieving their previous highs and this has a knock-on for buyer’s affordability.

"As always you need to have an accurate valuation for the property and by putting it on at an optimum level you can then generate the most interest possible. "

Simon Rubinsohn, RICS Chief Economist sees the lettings market as being stronger than the sales side. He said, "It is noticeable that the amount of new rental instructions coming through to agents is continuing to edge lower, which is not altogether surprising given the changing landscape for buy-to-let investors. One consequence of this is that rents are expected to continue rising not just in the near term but also further out and at a faster pace than house prices."

During March 2017 London was the worst performing region of the country according to the Land Registry with prices falling by 1.5% from the previous month to £471,742. Over the course of the last twelve months prices have risen by 1.5%.

For England as a whole prices are up by 4.4% in the year to March rising to an average of £232,530.

The number of completed house sales in London in January, the latest month for which figures are available, fell by 26.3% to 5,968 compared with 8,093 in January 2016.

In a forthcoming edition of the ActonW3.com newsletter there will be a complete listing of recent property sales in the area. To register to receive it click here.

May 24, 2017