Smaller London Home-Price Drop Shows Bottom Near, Rightmove Says
London house prices fell less than usual this month as sellers held back in a sign that the market may be stabilizing.
(Bloomberg) -- London house prices fell less than usual this month as sellers held back in a sign that the market may be stabilizing, according to Rightmove.
Home values in greater London slipped 0.2%, compared with an average 0.6% drop for July over the past five years, the property website said on Monday. From a year ago, prices slid 1.7% to an average 617,941 pounds ($775,000).
The U.K.’s decision to leave the European Union has weighed on the housing market since the 2016 referendum, with London hit particularly hard. Still, low interest rates, record employment and short supply of homes is preventing a sharper decline.
The average time taken to sell a property held steady at 67 days, a tentative sign that the market is “bottoming out,” Rightmove said. The number of new sellers in the capital was down 18% from a year earlier, with the scarcity of listings worst in the center of the city.
“Owners in this area are typically able to pick and choose when to come to market, as they tend not to have a pressing need to liquidate their assets,” said Rightmove director Miles Shipside. “They have perhaps decided to spend an extended summer break at one of their other properties around the world and wait for this stabilization of the London market to turn into a recovery.”
Prices also fell 0.2% nationally, in the first monthly decline of 2019. The wait to secure a buyer is the longest at this time of year for six years.
Brexit gloom is hitting the retail sector, with footfall down by 2.9% in June, the British Retail Consortium said in a separate report. Shops in town centers were hit particularly hard, with a 4.5% monthly decline, partly due to poor weather.
“Last year’s World Cup and glorious sunshine set a high bar, which 2019’s slow consumer spending and Brexit uncertainty failed to live up to,” said Helen Dickinson, chief executive of the consortium. “High streets and shopping centers across the country need to invest in improving their consumer experience if they wish to see these footfall numbers reverse.”
To contact the reporter on this story: Olivia Konotey-Ahulu in London at okonoteyahul@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Fergal O'Brien at fobrien@bloomberg.net, Brian Swint, Paul Gordon
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