Property Numbers Bring Misery for Agents

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Less than one home per day sold in the Hammersmith area

The latest figures from the Land Registry are showing that the credit crunch is starting to have a noticeable impact on property values and volumes. Prices are down but transaction volumes have plummeted by nearly 60%

The web site Primelocation.com released figures last month claiming that sellers had increased the price of properties in the area by over 14% during January. Estate agents are looking to overseas buyers attracted by bargains presented by the weakness of sterling to provide support for the market particularly at the top end.

The Land Registry numbers are for actual transactions rather than prices at which properties are being offered for sale so they may present a more reliable picture of the market.

The average price for a W6 property sold in the fourth quarter of last year was £452,455. This is down by 7.4% less than half the fall seen elsewhere in London and the country.

However, a closer look at the data suggests that the headline figure may be slightly misleading. The average terraced property is down by 18.9% over the last year and flats have fallen by 14.2%

The low volume of flat sales relative to houses has boosted the overall average.

Over the last five years Hammersmith property prices are still up by 34%

The most alarming number for estate agents is the volume figures which show that only 60 properties changed hands during the quarter. With 41 agents listed as being based in the area, significant consolidation seems likely.

The Land Registry data for January for the country as a whole shows an annual house price change of -15.1 per cent. This marks the seventeenth month in a row where the annual rate of change has fallen. This contrasts with the 21 months of uninterrupted increases in the annual rate of change between December 2005 and August 2007. Prices in London were down by 14.1% over the year.

The average property in England and Wales is currently worth £156,753 and the rate of monthly price change stands at -0.8 per cent. Sales volumes nationally have continued to decrease, with the number of sales averaging 41,014 per month in the months August to November 2008. In the same period in 2007, the average was £106,495

The numbers are subject to revision as usually some properties are added late to the Land Registry's database

Hammersmith Property Prices - October - December 2008

Area	Terraced	Sales	Flat/Mais	Sales	Total Ave	Total Sales
W6 0	679230	13	309004	6	562317	19
W6 7	878750	4	306750	4	592750	8
W6 8	573433	3	267818	11	333307	14
W6 9	564999	5	302142	14	371315	19
Total	675611	25	293057	35	452455	60
Last quarter	10.6%	8.7%	-14.7%	-14.6%	-12.7%	-13.0%
Last year	-18.9%	-30.6%	-14.2%	-65.7%	-7.4%	-57.4%
Last five years	34.1%	-60.3%	27.5%	-70.3%	34.0%	-68.4%

 

Source: Land Registry

 

March 3, 2009