Merton house prices dropped in June

File photo dated 14/10/14 of sold and for sale signs. House prices across the UK are expected to increase by 4 percent this year, according to a property group's forecasts. Issue date: Tuesday March 9, 2021.

House prices dropped by 1.4% in Merton in June, new figures show.

But the drop does not reverse the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area achieve 2.7% annual growth.

The average Merton house price in June was £536,716.1565, Land Registry figures show – a 1.4% decrease on May.

Over the month, the picture was worse than that across London, where prices increased 2.5322733%, and Merton underperformed compared to the 4.4989563% rise for the UK as a whole.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in Merton rose by £14,000 – putting the area 26th among London’s 33 local authorities for annual growth.

The best annual growth in the region was in Harrow, where property prices increased on average by 16.7%, to £522,000. At the other end of the scale, properties in City of London lost 13.2% of their value, giving an average price of £756,000.

Winners and Losers

Owners of detached houses fared worst in Merton in June – they dropped 2.6% in price, to £1,548,929.691 on average. But over the last year, prices rose by 2.8%.

Among other types of property:

Semi-detached: down 1.6% monthly; up 3.3% annually; £827,272.0394 averageTerraced: down 1% monthly; up 4.2% annually; £583,853.2896 averageFlats: down 1.6% monthly; up 0.6% annually; £389,006.1897 average

First steps on the property ladder

First-time buyers in Merton spent an average of £462,000 on their property – £11,000 more than a year ago, and £16,000 more than in June 2016.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £614,000 on average in June – 32.9% more than first-time buyers.

How do property prices in Merton compare?

Buyers paid 5.2% more than the average price in London (£510,000) in June for a property in Merton. Across London, property prices are high compared to those across the UK, where the average cost £266,000.

The most expensive properties in London were in Kensington and Chelsea – £1.2 million on average, and 2.3 times as much as in Merton. Kensington and Chelsea properties cost 3.9 times as much as homes in Barking and Dagenham (£319,000 average), at the other end of the scale.

The highest property prices across the UK were in Kensington and Chelsea, where the average June sale price of £1.2 million could buy 13 properties in Burnley (average £99,000).

Factfile

Average property price in June

Merton: £536,716.1565London:£510,298.6011UK: £265,668.1787

Annual growth to June

Merton: +2.7%London: +6.3%UK: +13.2%

Best and worst annual growth in London

Harrow: +16.7%City of London: -13.2%