Merton house prices dropped more than London average in May

House prices dropped by 2.6% – more than the average for London – in Merton 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 0.9% over the last year.

The average Merton house price in May was £564,071, Land Registry figures show – a 2.6% decrease on April.

Over the month, the picture was different to that across London, where prices decreased 1.2%, and Merton was lower than the UK as a whole, where prices did not change.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in Merton rose by £5,100 – putting the area 19th 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 24.1%, to £988,000. At the other end of the scale, properties in Kensington and Chelsea lost 13.4% of their value, giving an average price of £1,314,000.

First steps on the property ladder

First-time buyers in Merton spent an average of £481,400 on their property – £5,000 more than a year ago, and £45,800 more than in May 2018.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £651,000 on average in May – 35.2% more than first-time buyers.

Property types

Owners of semi-detached houses saw the biggest fall in property prices in Merton in May – they dropped 2.9% in price, to £897,361 on average. But over the last year, prices rose by 0.6%.

Among other types of property:

• Detached: down 2.3% monthly; down 0.3% annually; £1,731,075 average
• Terraced: down 2.6% monthly; up 0.4% annually; £615,998 average
• Flats: down 2.5% monthly; up 1.7% annually; £398,246 average

How do property prices in Merton compare?

Buyers paid 7.3% more than the average price in London (£526,000) in May for a property in Merton. Across London, property prices are high compared to those across the UK, where the average cost is £286,000.

The most expensive properties in London were in Kensington and Chelsea – £1.3 million on average, and 2.3 times the price as in Merton. Kensington and Chelsea properties cost 3.7 times the price as homes in Barking and Dagenham (£356,000 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

• Merton: £564,071
• London:£525,629
• UK: £285,861

Annual growth to May

• Merton: +0.9%
• London: +0.8%
• UK: +1.9%

Highest and lowest annual growth in London

• City of London: +24.1%
• Kensington and Chelsea: -13.4%