Tower Hamlets house prices dropped slightly in October

House prices dropped slightly, by 0.6%, in Tower Hamlets 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 12.5% over the last year – the highest in London.

The average Tower Hamlets house price in October was £484,389, Land Registry figures show – a 0.6% decrease on September.

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

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in Tower Hamlets rose by £54,000 – putting the area top among London’s 33 local authorities with price data for annual growth.

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 Tower Hamlets spent an average of £471,000 on their property – £52,000 more than a year ago, and £15,000 more than in October 2017.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £498,000 on average in October – 5.9% more than first-time buyers.

How do property prices in Tower Hamlets compare?

Buyers paid 10.6% less than the average price in London (£542,000) in October for a property in Tower Hamlets. Across London, property prices are lower 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 2.8 times as much as more than in Tower Hamlets. 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

Tower Hamlets: £484,389London:£541,720UK: £296,422

Annual growth to October

Tower Hamlets: +12.5%London: +6.7%UK: +12.6%

Highest and lowest annual growth in London

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