Merton house prices dropped more than London average in October

House prices dropped by 1.1% – more than the average for London – in Merton in October, new figures show.

But the drop does not reverse the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area grow by 3.9% over the last year.

The average Merton house price in October was £586,736, Land Registry figures show – a 1.1% decrease on September.

Over the month, the picture was similar to that across London, where prices decreased 0.9%, and Merton was lower than the 0.3% rise for the UK as a whole.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in Merton rose by £22,000 – putting the area 28th among London’s 33 local authorities with price data for annual growth.

The highest annual growth in the region was in Tower Hamlets, where property prices increased on average by 12.5%, to £484,000. At the other end of the scale, properties in Kensington and Chelsea lost 7.1% of their value, giving an average price of £1,356,000.

Average UK house prices increased by 12.6% in the year to October, accelerating from 9.9% in September.

The increase in the annual percentage change was partly caused by a sharp fall in average house prices in October 2021, following changes to stamp duty.

The average UK house price was £296,400 in October, which was £33,000 higher than a year earlier.

Tom Bill, head of UK residential research at Knight Frank, said: “Despite today’s figures, double-digit UK house price growth is now a thing of the past.

“Even as the reverberations of the mini-budget fade, a more adverse lending landscape is emerging after 13 years of ultra-low rates."

First steps on the property ladder

First-time buyers in Merton spent an average of £500,000 on their property – £18,000 more than a year ago, and £36,000 more than in October 2017.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £678,000 on average in October – 35.5% more than first-time buyers.

Property types

Owners of detached houses saw the biggest fall in property prices Merton in October – they dropped 1.7% in price, to £1,777,273 on average. But over the last year, prices rose by 2.4%.

Among other types of property:

Semi-detached: down 1.3% monthly; up 4.5% annually; £932,427 averageTerraced: down 1.2% monthly; up 5.6% annually; £647,254 averageFlats: down 0.9% monthly; up 1.8% annually; £410,279 average

How do property prices in Merton compare?

Buyers paid 8.3% more than the average price in London (£542,000) in October for a property in Merton. Across London, property prices are higher than those across the UK, where the average cost £296,000.

The most expensive properties in London were in Kensington and Chelsea – £1.4 million on average, and 2.3 times as much as more than in Merton. Kensington and Chelsea properties cost 3.8 times as much 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 October

Merton: £586,736London:£541,720UK: £296,422

Annual growth to October

Merton: +3.9%London: +6.7%UK: +12.6%

Highest and lowest annual growth in London

Tower Hamlets: +12.5%Kensington and Chelsea: -7.1%