Quality of New Stock 'Should Allay Fears' of Acton Property Glut
Agent says new units better sited than recently completed developments
A terraced house on Woodhurst Road sold for £1,642,500
Concerns about a property glut in the Acton area are being downplayed by local property professionals after the publication of the most recent sales data.
Figures for the first quarter of 2021 from the Land Registry show that the average price in the W3 postcode area was £611,217, up 5% on the same period last year but down slightly from the level seen at the end of 2021.
The previous quarter’s average, originally reported as an all-time high was revised down as more sales were reported but it remains close to the record level.
Although the volume of reported sales so far this year is too small to reach a firm conclusion about the level of the market, it does seem to confirm that prices have remained within the narrow range seen over the last five years.
There has been slow but steady demand for the new developments dotted around the Acton area including the Acton Town Hall apartments. However, some have expressed concern that demand will prove insufficient to absorb the huge supply of flats for which there are over 3,000 in the pipeline.
It is understood that a significant amount of the development in the North Acton area which has become increasingly visible on the local skyline will be given over to student accommodation and will not be made available for sale. If this is the case, the a largest proportion of the new units will be in South Acton. In addition to the later phases of the Acton Gardens development there is the massive scheme planned by Transport for London along Bollo Lane as well as a number of other high rise residential buildings at various stages of the planning process in this vicinity.
A local estate agent said, "While the volume of flat sales is down, it would be wrong to jump to conclusions based on incomplete data. Last quarter also showed very low sales levels initially but transactions reported later on boosted the number to a reasonably respectable total.
"There is slow and steady demand in the area and 100 new build flats were reported as sold last year which, although a fraction of the total in the pipeline does indicate there is an appetite for homes. This is far more than in the adjacent W5 postcode area where only 17 new units were sold despite there being an equivalent supply.
“People are currently paying quite large sums to live very close to the A40 so I don't think the new units in the vicinity of Acton Town tube station will go unsold though not because some of the more unscrupulous operators will be telling buyers the flats are in Chiswick!"
As in previous quarters during the pandemic, buyers remained keen on larger family houses and turnover in this section of the market has remained relatively robust. The top sale price was for a terraced property on Woodhurst Road which changed hands for £1,643,500.
| Acton Property Prices (January - March 2021) | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Area | Semi-det | Sales | Terraced | Sales | Flat/ mais |
Sales | Overall Ave |
Total Sales |
| W3 0 | 0 | 0 | 860000 | 1 | 577000 | 1 | 718500 | 2 |
| W3 6 | 0 | 0 | 1246250 | 2 | 348500 | 2 | 797375 | 4 |
| W3 7 | 785000 | 1 | 802500 | 2 | 452500 | 2 | 659000 | 5 |
| W3 8 | 0 | 0 | 730000 | 4 | 407875 | 4 | 568937 | 8 |
| W3 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 396250 | 4 | 396250 | 4 |
| Total | 785000 | 1 | 875278 | 9 | 415038 | 13 | 611217 | 23 |
| Change in Quarter | -14.6% | -92.9% | -2.9% | -60.9% | -13.3% | -79.4% | -4.5% | -77.2% |
| Change in year | -21.6% | -95.7% | 3.0% | -43.8% | -11.6% | -89.5% | 5.0% | -85.9% |
| Change in three years | -27.9% | -90.9% | 5.5% | -43.8% | -8.8% | -80.3% | -5.1% | -76.5% |
| Change in five years | -5.2% | -96.3% | -2.9% | -74.3% | -3.4% | -89.3% | 3.3% | -87.7% |
| Change in ten years | 33.0% | -95.0% | 85.8% | -25.0% | 82.1% | -78.7% | 81.3% | -75.3% |
Nationally the property market seems to have experienced a bounce in April after the announcement of the stamp duty holiday extension reaching a new record high average price of £238,831.
Commenting on the figures, Robert Gardner, Nationwide's Chief Economist, said, “Annual house price growth accelerated to 7.1% in April, only slightly below the peak of 7.3% recorded in December and up from 5.7% in March. In month-on-month terms, house prices rose by 2.1% in April, after taking account of seasonal effects, the biggest month rise since February 2004.
“Just as expectations of the end of the stamp duty holiday led to a slowdown in house price growth in March, so the extension of the stamp duty holiday in the Budget prompted
a reacceleration in April.
“However, our research suggests that while the stamp duty holiday is impacting the timing of housing transactions, for most people it is not the key motivating factor prompting them to move in the first place. For example, amongst homeowners surveyed at the end of April
that were either moving home or considering a move, three quarters said this would have been the case even if the stamp duty holiday had not been extended."
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May 6, 2021