City of London house prices crashed 6.2% in September

General view of estate agents signs outside a block of flats in Basingstoke, Hampshire.

House prices crashed by 6.2% in City of London in September, new figures show.

The large drop contributes to the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area suffer a 15.7% annual decline.

The average City of London house price in September was £807,475, Land Registry figures show – a 6.2% decrease on August.

Over the month, the picture was different to that across London, where prices decreased 0.3%, and City of London was lower than the 0.5% drop for the UK as a whole.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in City of London fell by £151,000 – putting the area 32nd among London’s 33 local authorities with price data for annual growth.

The highest annual growth in the region was in Tower Hamlets, where property prices increased on average by 6.4%, to £509,000. At the other end of the scale, properties in Kensington and Chelsea lost 20.6% of their value, giving an average price of £1,203,000.

First steps on the property ladder

First-time buyers in City of London spent an average of £826,400 on their property – £155,000 less than a year ago, but £8,200 more than in September 2018.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £798,200 on average in September – 3.4% more than first-time buyers.

How do property prices in City of London compare?

Buyers paid 50.2% more than the average price in London (£537,000) in September for a property in City of London. Across London, property prices are high compared to those across the UK, where the average cost is £291,000.

The most expensive properties in London were in Kensington and Chelsea – £1.2 million on average, and 1.5 times the price as in City of London. Kensington and Chelsea properties cost 3.5 times the price as homes in Barking and Dagenham (£346,000 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 September

City of London: £807,475
London:£537,424
UK: £291,385

Annual change to September

City of London: -15.7%
London: -1.1%
UK: -0.1%

Highest and lowest annual growth in London

Tower Hamlets: +6.4%
Kensington and Chelsea: -20.6%