Acton Property Sales Disappoint So Far This Year

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Buyer interest in W3 remain concentrated in flats rather than houses

The Acton property market appears to have made a nervous start to the year with both turnover and the average price falling.

The first quarter of 2015 saw an average sale price of £469,114 - according to Land Registry - that's down by 7.8% compared with the same period last year.

Part of the reason for the price fall may be because some sellers have been waiting until after the election to market their property. There has also been a slowing down of house sales as opposed to those of flats.  A total of 31 houses (1 detached, 13 semi's and 17 terraced) changed hands compared to 79 flats - the latter made up over 70% of the transaction in the area during the period. In the previous quarter forty one houses were sold.

Unlike other areas of west London it is unlikely that fears over a possible mansion tax had much impact on prices so it may be that the local property market is consolidating after the strong rises seen last year.

In total 110 properties sold in the first part of the year this compares to 132 in the period leading up to Christmas.

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) UK Residential Market Survey says that London house prices were back into positive territory in April, after seven months in decline, with short term predictions suggesting further rises.

28% more chartered surveyors saw prices rise in London in April, the first positive reading in the capital after seven negative months in the run up to the election. Price expectations over the next three months are also positive, with 11% more respondents expecting prices to rise further.

New instructions fell sharply with 36% more chartered surveyors seeing a decline, while the capital also saw an increase in buyer enquiries for the first time in a year as both these factors contributed to the pick-up in prices. Activity levels over the last month decreased most sharply in London where 21% more respondents reported a fall rather than rise in newly agreed sales

52% more respondents expect prices to rise over the next twelve months in London and the predicted average percentage price rise for houses in the capital over each of the next five years is 5.4%.

Meanwhile, in the lettings sector, supply has been rising steadily in London for three years now but the growth in tenant demand is not far behind. As a result, 39% more chartered surveyors expect rents to rise over the next three months which is the highest reading since the first half of 2011.

Simon Rubinsohn, RICS Chief Economist, said: “It is conceivable that the decisive outcome to the election could encourage a pick-up in instructions to agents and ease some of the recent upward pressure on house prices but it is doubtful that this will be substantive enough to provide anything more than temporary relief. Alongside an increased flow of second hand stock, it is absolutely critical that new government focuses on measures to boost the flow of new build.’’

According to Land Registry figures London as a whole continued to see the highest price rises in the country in March rising by 11.3% to £462,799. This compares to a 5.3% increase for England and Wales which brought the average price up to £178,007. The peak was achieved in November 2007 when the average reached £181,049.

The number of properties sold in England and Wales for over £1 million decreased by 19 per cent to 851 from 1,049 a year earlier. Repossessions in England and Wales decreased by 45 per cent to 590 compared with 1,081 in January 2014
London was the region with the greatest fall in repossession sales with only 65 taking place in January 2015.

In a forthcoming edition of the ActonW3.com newsletter there will be a complete listing of recent property sales in the area. To register to receive it .

Acton Property Prices (January - March 2015)
Area	Detached	Sales	Semi-det	Sales	Terraced	Sales	Flat/ mais	Sales	Overall Ave	Total Sales
W3 0	875000	1	583750	4	732583	6	274063	8	515684	19
W3 6	-	-	465000	1	828750	4	331875	23	407612	28
W3 7	-	-	1073500	3	717000	5	339818	25	463665	33
W3 8	-	-	940000	1	620000	2	424167	15	474583	18
W3 9	-	-	1012875	4	0	0	312062	8	545667	12
Total	875000	1	847077	13	737382	17	344052	79	469114	110
Change in Quarter	-	-	10.2%	-38.1%	-11.3%	-10.5%	-4.9%	-14.1%	-5.1%	-16.7%
Change in year	-30.2%	-83.3%	16.5%	-38.1%	7.5%	-51.4%	5.1%	-6.0%	-7.8%	-24.7%
Change in three years	-	-	40.5%	-23.5%	57.3%	-34.6%	30.9%	8.2%	30.7%	-5.2%
Change in five years	-	-	48.9%	-48.0%	85.4%	-29.2%	43.2%	-12.2%	43.7%	-20.9%
Change in ten years	-	-	146.4%	-48.0%	124.6%	-41.4%	72.4%	-2.5%	84.8%	-18.5%

 

Acton Property Prices (October - December 2014)
Area	Semi-detached	Sales	Terraced	Sales	Flat/ mais	Sales	Overall Ave	Overall Sales
W3 0	649936	7	766000	4	493481	8	608495	19
W3 6	946250	4	1461000	4	354291	29	537931	37
W3 7	679667	6	656750	8	317323	28	433739	42
W3 8	0	0	545100	3	381375	16	407226	19
W3 9	932250	4	0	0	371086	11	520730	15
Total	768645	21	831437	19	361862	92	494168	132
Change in Quarter	-20.9%	-30.0%	-10.0%	-52.5%	-5.9%	7.0%	-22.8%	-15.9%
Change in year	-9.7%	-19.2%	24.0%	-51.3%	19.7%	-27.0%	7.4%	-31.6%
Change in three years	27.8%	-12.5%	52.8%	26.7%	57.7%	8.2%	45.5%	6.5%
Change in five years	68.6%	16.7%	115.4%	26.7%	47.7%	12.2%	66.7%	14.8%
Change in ten years	100.7%	-34.4%	153.0%	-48.6%	76.7%	-9.8%	86.5%	-22.8%

 

 

May 28, 2015