London Home Prices Resume Slide as Sellers Hold Back Listing
Prices in inner London posted an increase for only the second time this year, albeit a modest 0.1% gain.
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Asking prices for London homes resumed their downward slide in November, with losses in the U.K. capital’s outer areas outweighing some signs of stabilization in the center.
Values fell 0.8% from a year earlier, to 609,506 pounds ($785,000) on average, Rightmove Plc said in a report published Monday. New listings were down 27%, showing how the political turmoil has given pause to those considering selling up.
“Would-be sellers are not only faced with prices well below the peak of the boom, but also the usual prospect of lower asking prices in the run-up to Christmas,” the report said. “On top of that they now have to factor in the unique autumn combination of a Brexit deadline and a looming general election.”
There were some signs of optimism in the capital. Prices in inner London posted an increase for only the second time this year, albeit a modest 0.1% gain.
Nationally, prices rose 0.3% on the year, to an average 302,808 pounds. Properties in Yorkshire and the Humber led the increase, while homeowners in the east of England saw the country’s biggest declines.
A separate report by Acadata also painted a gloomy picture, with U.K house prices falling in October, although prices in the capital rose for the first month in 13.
To contact the reporter on this story: Lucy Meakin in London at lmeakin1@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Paul Gordon at pgordon6@bloomberg.net, Brian Swint, David Goodman
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