City of London house prices dropped in December

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

House prices dropped by 4.4% in City of London in December, new figures show.

The drop contributes to the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area suffer a 17.8% annual decline – the worst in London.

The average City of London house price in December was £802,168, Land Registry figures show – a 4.4% decrease on November.

Over the month, the picture was different to that across London, where prices remained static, and City of London was lower than the 0.1% rise for the UK as a whole.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in City of London fell by £173,000 – putting the area bottom among London’s 33 local authorities with price data for annual growth.

The highest annual growth in the region was in Richmond, where property prices increased on average by 3%, to £758,000.

First steps on the property ladder

First-time buyers in City of London spent an average of £821,100 on their property – £178,800 less than a year ago, and £8,300 less than in December 2018.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £792,700 on average in December – 3.5% more than first-time buyers.

How do property prices in City of London compare?

Buyers paid 57.9% more than the average price in London (£508,000) in December for a property in City of London. Across London, property prices are high compared to those across the UK, where the average cost is £285,000.

The most expensive properties in London were in Kensington and Chelsea – £1.1 million on average, and 1.4 times the price as in City of London. Kensington and Chelsea properties cost 3.3 times the price as homes in Barking and Dagenham (£340,000 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 December

City of London: £802,168
London:£508,037
UK: £284,691

Annual change to December

City of London: -17.8%
London: -4.8%
UK: -1.4%

Highest and lowest annual growth in London

Richmond: +3%
City of London: -17.8%