Hackney house prices dropped in May

House prices dropped by 3.9% in Hackney in May, new figures show.

But the drop does not reverse the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area grow by 1.1% over the last year.

The average Hackney house price in May was £576,072, Land Registry figures show – a 3.9% decrease on April.

Over the month, the picture was different to that across London, where prices increased 0.2%, and Hackney was lower than the 1.2% rise for the UK as a whole.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in Hackney rose by £6,300 – putting the area 31st among London’s 33 local authorities with price data for annual growth.

The highest annual growth in the region was in Islington, where property prices increased on average by 12.2%, to £742,000. At the other end of the scale, properties in Westminster lost 1.1% of their value, giving an average price of £881,000.

An imbalance between supply and demand for properties has remained the primary reason behind climbing house prices across the UK throughout the pandemic.

But activity is starting to slow, with soaring inflation putting household budgets under pressure.

Sarah Coles, senior personal finance analyst at financial advice company Hargreaves Lansdown, said:“The average house price hit another record high in May, and rose faster than any time since the peak in June last year.

"However, we’re starting to see small changes in the market, which are likely to mean weaker growth in the coming months, especially if interest rates are hiked in August."

First steps on the property ladder

First-time buyers in Hackney spent an average of £543,800 on their property – £5,600 more than a year ago, and £65,400 more than in May 2017.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £612,800 on average in May – 12.7% more than first-time buyers.

Property types

Owners of flats saw the biggest fall in property prices Hackney in May – they dropped 4.1% in price, to £523,142 on average. But over the last year, prices rose by 0.6%.

Among other types of property:

Detached: down 2.4% monthly; up 5.7% annually; £1,089,310 averageSemi-detached: down 3.2% monthly; up 4.2% annually; £1,020,472 averageTerraced: down 3.1% monthly; up 3.3% annually; £866,312 average

How do property prices in Hackney compare?

Buyers paid 9.5% more than the average price in London (£526,000) in May for a property in Hackney. Across London, property prices are higher than those across the UK, where the average cost £283,000.

The most expensive properties in London were in Kensington and Chelsea – £1.3 million on average, and 2.3 times as much as more than in Hackney. Kensington and Chelsea properties cost 3.8 times as much as homes in Barking and Dagenham (£345,000 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 May

Hackney: £576,072London:£526,183UK: £283,496

Annual growth to May

Hackney: +1.1%London: +8.2%UK: +12.8%

Highest and lowest annual growth in London

Islington: +12.2%Westminster: -1.1%