Westminster house prices increased in July

File photo dated 14/10/14 of sold and for sale signs. A scramble by buyers to complete before the stamp duty holiday started winding down pushed UK house prices to a record high in June, official figures show. House prices rose by 13.2% over the year to June, faster than at any point since November 2004, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Issue date: Wednesday August 18, 2021.

House prices increased by 3.1% in Westminster in July, new figures show.

But the boost does not reverse the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area suffer a 3.1% annual decline.

The average Westminster house price in July was £898,011, Land Registry figures show – a 3.1% increase on June.

Over the month, the picture was better than that across London, where prices decreased 2%, and Westminster outperformed the 3.7% drop for the UK as a whole.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in Westminster remained level – putting the area 30th among London’s 33 local authorities for annual growth.

The best annual growth in the region was in Enfield, where property prices increased on average by 12.7%, to £438,000. At the other end of the scale, properties in City of London lost 10.4% of their value, giving an average price of £705,000.

Winners and Losers

Owners of semi-detached houses saw the biggest improvement in property prices in Westminster in July – they increased 3.4%, to £2,269,388 on average– but over the last year, prices dropped by 1.2%.

Among other types of property:

Detached: up 0.3% monthly; down 3.8% annually; £2,522,864 averageTerraced: up 1.4% monthly; down 1.6% annually; £1,504,307 averageFlats: up 3.3% monthly; down 3.4% annually; £842,962 average

First steps on the property ladder

First-time buyers in Westminster spent an average of £815,000 on their property – £28,000 less than a year ago, and £121,000 less than in July 2016.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £974,000 on average in July – 19.5% more than first-time buyers.

How do property prices in Westminster compare?

Buyers paid 81.5% more than the average price in London (£495,000) in July for a property in Westminster. Across London, property prices are high compared to those across the UK, where the average cost £256,000.

The most expensive properties in London were in Kensington and Chelsea – £1.3 million on average, and 1.5 times as much as in Westminster. Kensington and Chelsea properties cost 4.1 times as much as homes in Barking and Dagenham (£323,000 average), at the other end of the scale.

The highest property prices across the UK were in Kensington and Chelsea, where the average July sale price of £1.3 million could buy 13 properties in Burnley (average £101,000).

Factfile

Average property price in July

Westminster: £898,011London:£494,673UK: £255,535

Annual change to July

Westminster: -3.1%London: +2.2%UK: +8%

Best and worst annual growth in London

Enfield: +12.7%City of London: -10.4%