Kensington and Chelsea house prices dropped in December

House prices dropped by 4.5% in Kensington and Chelsea in December, new figures show.

The drop contributes to the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area suffer a 9.5% annual decline.

The average Kensington and Chelsea house price in December was £1,278,176, Land Registry figures show – a 4.5% decrease on November.

Over the month, the picture was different to that across London, where prices remained static, and Kensington and Chelsea was lower than the 0.4% drop for the UK as a whole.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in Kensington and Chelsea fell by £133,000 – putting the area 32nd among London’s 33 local authorities with price data for annual growth.

The highest annual growth in the region was in City of London, where property prices increased on average by 20.8%, to £968,000. 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 Kensington and Chelsea spent an average of £1,097,000 on their property – £116,000 less than a year ago, and £95,000 less than in December 2017.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £1,478,000 on average in December – 34.8% more than first-time buyers.

Property types

Owners of detached houses saw the biggest fall in property prices Kensington and Chelsea in December – they dropped 6% in price, to £3,636,591 on average. Over the last year, prices dropped by 11.8%.

Among other types of property:

Semi-detached: down 5.1% monthly; down 9.6% annually; £3,794,133 averageTerraced: down 4.4% monthly; down 7.4% annually; £2,555,768 averageFlats: down 4.5% monthly; down 10.1% annually; £1,082,563 average

How do property prices in Kensington and Chelsea compare?

Buyers paid more for properties in Kensington and Chelsea than anywhere else in the UK in December. The average price paid would buy 10.9 homes in Burnley (£118,000), at the other end of the scale.

Across London, property prices are high compared to those across the UK, where the average cost £294,000.

Factfile

Average property price in December

Kensington and Chelsea: £1,278,176London:£543,099UK: £294,329

Annual change to December

Kensington and Chelsea: -9.5%London: +6.7%UK: +9.8%

Highest and lowest annual growth in London

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