City of London house prices increased in December

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

House prices increased by 2.1% in City of London in December, new figures show.

The rise contributes to the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area grow by 20.8% over the last year – the highest in London.

The average City of London house price in December was £968,060, Land Registry figures show – a 2.1% increase on November.

Over the month, the picture was different to that across London, where prices remained static, and City of London was above the 0.4% drop for the UK as a whole.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in City of London rose by £167,000 – putting the area top among London’s 33 local authorities with price data for annual growth.

At the other end of the scale, properties in Westminster lost 13.4% of their value, giving an average price of £910,000.

The average UK house price was £294,000 in December 2022, which was £26,000 higher than 12 months earlier.

It meant prices increased by 9.8% annually in December, slowing from 10.6% annual growth in November, according to the Office for National Statistics.

First steps on the property ladder

First-time buyers in City of London spent an average of £993,000 on their property – £172,000 more than a year ago, and £195,000 more than in December 2017.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £954,000 on average in December – 3.9% more than first-time buyers.

How do property prices in City of London compare?

Buyers paid 78.2% more than the average price in London (£543,000) 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 £294,000.

The most expensive properties in London were in Kensington and Chelsea – £1.3 million on average, and 1.3 times as much as more than in City of London. Kensington and Chelsea properties cost 3.5 times as much as homes in Barking and Dagenham (£362,000 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: £968,060London:£543,099UK: £294,329

Annual growth to December

City of London: +20.8%London: +6.7%UK: +9.8%

Highest and lowest annual growth in London

City of London: +20.8%Westminster: -13.4%