Westminster house prices increased more than London average in February

House prices increased by 3% – more than the average for London – in Westminster in February, new figures show.

The boost contributes to the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area achieve 9.8% annual growth.

The average Westminster house price in February was £1,032,369, Land Registry figures show – a 3% increase on January.

Over the month, the picture was better than that across London, where prices increased 2.2%, and Westminster outperformed the 0.5% rise for the UK as a whole.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in Westminster rose by £92,000 – putting the area fifth among London’s 33 local authorities with price data for annual growth.

The best annual growth in the region was in City of London, where property prices increased on average by 15.4%, to £840,000. At the other end of the scale, properties in Lewisham lost 2% of their value, giving an average price of £436,000.

Winners and Losers

Owners of flats saw the biggest improvement in property prices in Westminster in February – they increased 3.1%, to £965,996 on average. Over the last year, prices rose by 9.6%.

Among other types of property:

Detached: up 1.4% monthly; up 12.9% annually; £3,086,170 averageSemi-detached: up 1.6% monthly; up 13.3% annually; £2,668,189 averageTerraced: up 2.1% monthly; up 11% annually; £1,765,143 average

First steps on the property ladder

First-time buyers in Westminster spent an average of £936,000 on their property – £82,000 more than a year ago, but £43,000 less than in February 2017.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £1,122,000 on average in February – 19.9% more than first-time buyers.

How do property prices in Westminster compare?

Buyers paid 94.8% more than the average price in London (£530,000) in February for a property in Westminster. Across London, property prices are high compared to those across the UK, where the average cost £277,000.

The most expensive properties in London were in Kensington and Chelsea – £1.4 million on average, and 1.3 times as much as more than in Westminster. Kensington and Chelsea properties cost 4.1 times as much as homes in Barking and Dagenham (£341,000 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 February

Westminster: £1,032,369London:£529,882UK: £276,755

Annual growth to February

Westminster: +9.8%London: +8.1%UK: +10.9%

Best and worst annual growth in London

City of London: +15.4%Lewisham: -2%