City of London house prices dropped in July

House prices dropped by 3.1% in City of London in July, new figures show.

The drop contributes to the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area suffer an 11.5% annual decline – the worst in the UK.

The average City of London house price in July was £807,769, Land Registry figures show –a 3.1% decrease on June.

Over the month, the picture was worse than that across London, where prices increased 1.1%, and City of London underperformed compared to the 2% rise for the UK as a whole.

Across the UK, the the average UK house price leapt by 15.5% in the year to July, marking the biggest increase in 19 years.

But the increase in annual inflation was mainly because of “a base effect” from the falls in prices seen this time last year, as a result of changes in the stamp duty holiday, the ONS said.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in City of London fell by £105,000 – putting the area bottom of the UK’s local authorities for annual growth.

The best annual growth in the region was in Harrow, where property prices increased on average by 14%, to £547,000.

First steps on the property ladder

First-time buyers in City of London spent an average of £827,000 on their property – £109,000 less than a year ago, and £50,000 less than in July 2017.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £797,000 on average in July – 3.6% more than first-time buyers.

How do property prices in City of London compare?

Buyers paid 48.6% more than the average price in London (£544,000) in July for a property in City of London. Across London, property prices are high compared to those across the UK, where the average cost £292,000.

The most expensive properties in London were in Kensington and Chelsea – £1.4 million on average, and 1.7 times as much as more than in City of London. Kensington and Chelsea properties cost 3.9 times as much 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 July

City of London: £807,769London:£543,517UK: £292,118

Annual change to July

City of London: -11.5%London: +9.2%UK: +15.5%

Best and worst annual growth in London

Harrow: +14%City of London: -11.5%