Rental market in Wimbledon also on the increase
House prices in Merton are rising faster than the national average - with a 1.3% month-on-month increase, according to a recent survey.
The Chesterton Humberts survey for September records house prices across the country edged up by 0.2% from August, with London property prices increasing by 0.7%.
Their house price "Poll of Polls" also revealed a 13.8% year-on-year increase in Merton - higher than neighbouring boroughs, with Wandsworth at 10%, Kingston at 12.4% and Lambeth at 11.8%.
The London average increase from 2009-2010 was 11.4%, with the average house in the capital now costing £374,795.
Chesterton Humberts say the continuing "drought" in mortage finance is also leading to an increase in rental prices - and this is particularly true in Wimbledon.
Robert Bartlett, Chesterton Humberts' CEO, said: "Lack of finance is trapping both buyers and sellers and once again leading to a rise in the numbers of "accidental landlords, sellers who are unable to achieve desired prices and are therefore taking advantage of the tight lettings market."
Mark Barnett, director of the Wimbledon office, added: "In Wimbledon we are seeing a shortage of stock in both sales and lettings. The high numbers of applicants for rentals, coupled with this stock shortage has meant that rental prices have continued to rise for the last few months.
"On the sales side, prices are slowly decreasing as some vendors are realizing that they may have over-estimated the value of their property. The return to more realistic prices is a welcome change since the peak at the beginning of the year. Buyers, however, have cottoned onto this and are waiting to see if prices will drop further before they make an offer.
"At the Wimbledon office, we tend to see people upsize or downsize within the surrounding areas, or young families moving from central London to benefit from the open spaces and opportunities to purchase larger houses.
"Recently, we have noticed that people have been looking at slightly better value for money neighbourhoods around the village such as Raynes Park or Southfields, where a four-bedroom house can cost as much as 25% less than a similar property in Wimbledon village."
October 25, 2010