Hammersmith Property Sales Slow to a Trickle

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But affordable new flats in town centre prove popular with buyers

Albion Court

In contrast to the first three months of 2019, which saw a surge of flat sales in W6, transactions slowed to a trickle during the spring months.

Land Registry figures record just 44 sales between April and June and while some late entries may still be added, this is a drop of almost two thirds compared to the same period last year.

Among the properties which did change hands, the large majority were flats. Hammersmith currently offers a diverse range of flats, from small starter homes priced from around £300,000 to the period's most expensive property, a spectacular duplex penthouse covering the entire 16th floor of Marquis House, part of Berkeley Homes' city centre Sovereign Court development, pictured below. It was sold for just under the four million mark at £3,902,190.

However, most flats had much more modest price tags, including new homes at what has proved a  very popular development, Albion Court close to King Street, a former office block has been converted into new flats. Nine were sold between April and June, all with relatively affordable prices of between £411,000 and £640,000.

The house market meanwhile, remained subdued with sales of just 17 terraced homes recorded, once again mostly with relatively modest price tags of between £900,000 and £1,300,00. Two neighbouring houses in Dalling Road achieved the highest prices during the period of £1,700,000 and £1,500,000.

And while Brexit, as one agent put it "continues to hang over the property market like a dark, foreboding cloud" estate agent Chestertons says in its latest report that despite people's frustratio with politicians, it is now seeing pent-up demand for properties as buyers are no longer prepared to put their plans on hold.

The agent says: "The shortage of available properties is limiting sales but we are seeing higher offers this year in many locations. If these trends continue this will filter through into higher sale prices, although any increases are likely to be minimal and will be felt in those locations where availability is lowest.

"Once Brexit is behind us, however, there is potential for a stronger bounce back as more pent-up demand is released."

According to the Nationwide House Price Index the average sale price in London was £465,722 down by 3.8% in the second quarter compared to the previous three months. Over the last year prices are down by 0.7% This is the eighth consecutive quarterly decline for London in a row. Moreover, prices in the capital are still only around 5% below the all-time highs recorded on Q1 2017 and c50% above their 2007 levels (by comparison, UK prices are only around 17% higher over the same period).

For the UK as a whole the average sale price was up by 0.4% over the last year to £215,910 with Northern Ireland seeing the strongest performance.

Commenting on the figures, Robert Gardner, Nationwide's Chief Economist, said, “Survey data suggests that new buyer enquiries and consumer confidence have remained subdued in recent months. Nevertheless, indicators of housing market activity, such as the number of mortgages approved for house purchase, have remained broadly stable.

“Housing market trends are likely to continue to mirror developments in the broader economy. While healthy labour market conditions and low borrowing costs will provide underlying support, uncertainty is likely to continue to act as a drag on sentiment and activity, with price growth and transaction levels remaining close to current levels over the coming months.”

The RICS UK Residential Market Survey for the second quarter concluded, “Although anecdotal commentary from respondents remains generally a little downbeat, contributors reported a rise in buyer demand, that new instructions have held steady, and that newly agreed sales also edged into positive territory for the first time in twenty-eight months.”

Hammersmith Property Prices - (April - June 2019)
Area	Semi- Det	Sales	Terraced	Sales	Flats/ Mais	Sales	Overall Ave	Total Sales
W6 0	1710000	1	1235687	8	709599	16	917964	25
W6 7	0	0	0	0	552500	2	552500	2
W6 8	0	0	1054167	3	483750	4	728214	7
W6 9	0	0	1110908	6	333163	4	799810	10
Total	1710000	1	1159615	17	604856	26	844311	44
Last quarter	8.6%	0.0%	-10.0%	41.7%	13.5%	-44.7%	20.4%	-26.7%
Last year	-23.2%	-80.0%	-5.7%	-34.6%	-10.3%	-73.5%	-0.2%	-65.9%
Last three years	10.0%	-50.0%	-20.4%	-19.0%	-4.3%	-67.1%	2.9%	-56.9%
Last five years	-2.1%	-66.7%	-10.6%	-55.3%	8.4%	-73.7%	6.1%	-69.2%
Last ten years	142.6%	-66.7%	104.2%	-22.7%	96.2%	-13.3%	94.7%	-20.0%

 

Source: Land Registry

November 22, 2019