Camden house prices dropped slightly in May

House prices dropped slightly, by 0.6%, in Camden in May, new figures show.

But the drop does not reverse the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area grow by 4.6% over the last year.

The average Camden house price in May was £859,332, Land Registry figures show – a 0.6% decrease on April.

Over the month, the picture was different to that across London, where prices increased 0.2%, and Camden was lower than the 1.2% rise for the UK as a whole.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in Camden rose by £38,000 – putting the area 25th among London’s 33 local authorities with price data for annual growth.

The highest annual growth in the region was in Islington, where property prices increased on average by 12.2%, to £742,000. At the other end of the scale, properties in Westminster lost 1.1% of their value, giving an average price of £881,000.

An imbalance between supply and demand for properties has remained the primary reason behind climbing house prices across the UK throughout the pandemic.

But activity is starting to slow, with soaring inflation putting household budgets under pressure.

Sarah Coles, senior personal finance analyst at financial advice company Hargreaves Lansdown, said:“The average house price hit another record high in May, and rose faster than any time since the peak in June last year.

"However, we’re starting to see small changes in the market, which are likely to mean weaker growth in the coming months, especially if interest rates are hiked in August."

First steps on the property ladder

First-time buyers in Camden spent an average of £726,000 on their property – £28,000 more than a year ago, and £28,000 more than in May 2017.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £1,017,000 on average in May – 40% more than first-time buyers.

Property types

Owners of flats saw the biggest fall in property prices Camden in May – they dropped 0.8% in price, to £760,039 on average. But over the last year, prices rose by 3.6%.

Among other types of property:

Detached: up 1.9% monthly; up 13.5% annually; £3,400,311 averageSemi-detached: up 0.7% monthly; up 11% annually; £2,229,657 averageTerraced: up 0.3% monthly; up 8.5% annually; £1,428,214 average

How do property prices in Camden compare?

Buyers paid 63.3% more than the average price in London (£526,000) in May for a property in Camden. Across London, property prices are high compared to those across the UK, where the average cost £283,000.

The most expensive properties in London were in Kensington and Chelsea – £1.3 million on average, and 1.5 times as much as more than in Camden. Kensington and Chelsea properties cost 3.8 times as much as homes in Barking and Dagenham (£345,000 average), at the other end of the scale.

The highest property prices across the UK were in Kensington and Chelsea.

Factfile

Average property price in May

Camden: £859,332London:£526,183UK: £283,496

Annual growth to May

Camden: +4.6%London: +8.2%UK: +12.8%

Highest and lowest annual growth in London

Islington: +12.2%Westminster: -1.1%