City of London house prices crashed 7.3% in May
House prices crashed by 7.3% in City of London in May, new figures show.
But the large drop does not reverse the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area grow by 4.5% over the last year.
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Hide AdThe average City of London house price in May was £789,805, Land Registry figures show – a 7.3% decrease on April.
Over the month, the picture was different to that across London, where prices increased 0.2%, and City of London was lower than the 1.2% rise for the UK as a whole.
Over the last year, the average sale price of property in City of London rose by £34,000 – putting the area 27th 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.
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Hide AdAn 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."
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First-time buyers in City of London spent an average of £810,000 on their property – £34,000 more than a year ago, but £155,000 less than in May 2017.
By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £778,000 on average in May – 3.9% more than first-time buyers.
How do property prices in City of London compare?
Buyers paid 50.1% more than the average price in London (£526,000) in May for a property in City of London. 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 1.7 times as much as more than in City of London. 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.
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Hide AdThe highest property prices across the UK were in Kensington and Chelsea.
Factfile
Average property price in May
City of London: £789,805London:£526,183UK: £283,496
Annual growth to May
City of London: +4.5%London: +8.2%UK: +12.8%
Highest and lowest annual growth in London
Islington: +12.2%Westminster: -1.1%