Average Hammersmith Home Now Costs Over a Million

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With the price of flats doubling over the last year

The average property price in Hammersmith soared above the million mark in the first three months of 2015, up by 39% over the same period last year.

The average climbed from £979,972 in the previous quarter to £1,011,362, up 3.2%.

This rise is all the more remarkable because no detached or semi detached properties were sold between January and March, probably because of concerns over a possible mansion tax.

The main factor driving up property values is a doubling of flat prices over the last year. In this quarter they were up 10.6%, from £813,660 to £899,848, which makes it conceivable that the average flat price could soon reach one million pounds.

These prices are mainly due to a change in the mixture of flats being sold. The largest price jump was in the W6 9 postcode area, close to the river, where the average was up from £1,033,999 between October and December to £1,409,660.

This area includes St George's giant riverside development Fulham Reach, where flats currently available to buy off-plan are priced between £819,950 for one bedroom and £3,699,950 for three bedrooms.

The most expensive property so far reported as sold during the quarter was a house in Westcroft Square which changed hands for £2,000,000. It had earlier been on the market for £2,300,000.

And though sales in this area were up during this quarter, from 42 to 47, the rest of Hammersmith saw a slowdown in the market, with sales down from 142 in the previous three months to 114. And those these cold dark months are traditionally a quiet time, this may also have been partly due to pre-election jitters.

Local estate agents predict that is all set to change after a decisive election. Winkworth CEO Dominic Agace says: " “There are a lot of people out there who were just waiting for the election result. Now that the result is known, they will be putting their house on the market."

Peter Rollings, CEO of Marsh and Parsons says: "The top-end market will be breathing a huge sigh of relief that £2m+ properties won’t be penalised by a mansion tax, a levy that would have stifled activity in the capital and across the South East.

"Any such tax could also have had implications on lower rungs of the property ladder too, so it is not just wealthier homeowners who should be counting their blessings. The post-election feel-good factor could well kick in immediately and 2015 may prove to be a reversed version of 2014 in starting slowly and finishing strongly."

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) UK Residential Market Survey says that London house prices were back into positive territory in April, after seven months in decline, with short term predictions suggesting further rises.

28% more chartered surveyors saw prices rise in London in April, the first positive reading in the capital after seven negative months in the run up to the election. Price expectations over the next three months are also positive, with 11% more respondents expecting prices to rise further.

New instructions fell sharply with 36% more chartered surveyors seeing a decline, while the capital also saw an increase in buyer enquiries for the first time in a year as both these factors contributed to the pick-up in prices. Activity levels over the last month decreased most sharply in London where 21% more respondents reported a fall rather than rise in newly agreed sales

52% more respondents expect prices to rise over the next twelve months in London and the predicted average percentage price rise for houses in the capital over each of the next five years is 5.4%.

Meanwhile, in the lettings sector, supply has been rising steadily in London for three years now but the growth in tenant demand is not far behind. As a result, 39% more chartered surveyors expect rents to rise over the next three months which is the highest reading since the first half of 2011.

Simon Rubinsohn, RICS Chief Economist, said: “It is conceivable that the decisive outcome to the election could encourage a pick-up in instructions to agents and ease some of the recent upward pressure on house prices but it is doubtful that this will be substantive enough to provide anything more than temporary relief. Alongside an increased flow of second hand stock, it is absolutely critical that new government focuses on measures to boost the flow of new build.’’

According to Land Registry figures London as a whole continued to see the highest price rises in the country in March rising by 11.3% to £462,799. This compares to a 5.3% increase for England and Wales which brought the average price up to £178,007. The peak was achieved in November 2007 when the average reached £181,049.

The number of properties sold in England and Wales for over £1 million decreased by 19 per cent to 851 from 1,049 a year earlier. Repossessions in England and Wales decreased by 45 per cent to 590 compared with 1,081 in January 2014
London was the region with the greatest fall in repossession sales with only 65 taking place in January 2015.

A detailed listing of properties sold recently in the area will be appearing in a forthcoming edition of the Hammersmith newsletter.

Hammersmith Property Prices (January - March 2015)
Area	Terrace	Sales	Flat/ mais	Sales	Overall Ave	Overall Sales
W6 0	1368893	11	532584	36	728316	47
W6 7	1554000	5	553595	10	887063	15
W6 8	1082143	7	610000	4	910455	11
W6 9	1400888	6	1409660	35	1408377	41
Total	1338212	29	899848	85	1011362	114
Last quarter	-1.3%	-12.1%	10.6%	-18.3%	3.2%	-19.7%
Last year	2.0%	7.4%	101.4%	10.4%	39.0%	6.5%
Last three years	27.1%	20.8%	158.0%	39.3%	80.8%	29.5%
Last five years	49.7%	-34.1%	170.5%	80.9%	67.4%	25.3%
Last ten years	176.6%	-12.1%	271.7%	93.2%	192.6%	48.1%

 

Hammersmith Property Prices (October - December 2014)
Area	Detached	Sales	Semi- detached	Sales	Terrace	Sales	Flat/ mais	Sales	Overall Ave	Overall Sales
W6 0	500000	1	2753333	3	1255769	13	642986	25	979992	42
W6 7	0	0	0	0	2169600	5	513541	15	927556	20
W6 8	0	0	0	0	1141329	7	500695	10	764485	17
W6 9	0	0	1042500	1	1196313	8	1033999	54	1054745	63
Total	500000	1	2325625	4	1355539	33	813660	104	979972	142
Last quarter			22.0%	-33.3%	-1.6%	-31.3%	36.0%	-29.3%	19.0%	-29.4%
Last year	-50.0%	0.0%	111.4%	300.0%	-15.6%	230.0%	75.6%	352.2%	19.1%	305.7%
Last three years			123.2%	-20.0%	92.4%	-17.5%	116.8%	10.6%	98.4%	2.2%
Last five years					58.8%	17.9%	163.4%	89.1%	98.9%	71.1%
Last ten years			203.6%	-20.0%	118.6%	-17.5%	229.7%	13.0%	161.5%	3.6%

 

Source: Land Registry

 

May 15, 2015