Revealed: Tower Hamlets's property hotspots

File photo dated 09/07/21 of an aerial view of terrace houses in west London. More than 1.4 million households are facing the prospect of interest rate rises when they renew their fixed-rate mortgages this year, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). The majority of fixed-rate mortgages in the UK (57%) which are coming up for renewal in 2023 were fixed at interest rates below 2%, it said. Issue date: Monday January 9, 2023.

New figures reveal the most and least expensive neighbourhoods to buy in Tower Hamlets.

The UK property market has had a turbulent few years – with a boom in the immediate aftermath of the pandemic, followed by a slowdown amid rising interest rates and inflation.

New figures from the Office for National Statistics show where properties are likely to set you back the most in Tower Hamlets, and where you could snap up a bargain.

The St Katharine's and Wapping neighbourhood was Tower Hamlets's priciest, with a median value of £794,000 among the 252 sales in the area last calendar year.

The next most expensive was the Weavers area, where a house could set you back £632,500, and Bow West, which had a median price of £576,250 in 2022.

Meanwhile, the Poplar neighbourhood saw the lowest house prices, with buyers paying an average of £381,500 across 21 sales last year.

This was followed by Bromley South and Bromley North, where buyers spent £390,000 and £413,290 respectively.

Across the country, property sales have slowed significantly in the past year.

Richard Donnell, executive director of research at the property search website Zoopla, said: "The increase in mortgage rates is having a bigger impact on the number of sales rather than house prices so far."

Recent research by the company suggests sellers are shaving off more than 5% of the original asking price to achieve a sale.

"There are big regional variations with market activity holding up better in Scotland, the North East and London while sales have increased more slowly in England regions across the south of England.

"House prices are starting to post small falls in higher value markets where average values are over £400,000 – in more affordable markets prices are still rising year on year, albeit at much slower rates than a year ago," he added.

There were 700,000 sales across England and Wales in the year to December 2021 – down from a recent peak of more than 1.1 million in the year to September 2021.

Overall, house prices have remained steady, with a median price of £280,000 last year – a £5,000 increase on the year before.

In Tower Hamlets, the average house cost £500,000 in 2022 – down from £575,000 a year before.

The number of properties sold also dropped, from 4,300 in 2021 to 2,706 last year.