Home prices in Greenwich fall 6.2% & 11.7% in Southwark. Lewisham down 8.1%
Data out today has revealed that home prices in Greenwich have fallen by 6.2% on last year with a 2.2% fall over the last month.
Southwark saw a large 11.7% drop on the year, with Lewisham down 8.1% and Bexley 0.2%. Bromley was down 3.6%.
These figures come from LSL which include cash purchases as well as mortgages which explains the large numbers. Cash purchases make up 30-40% of transactions.
LSL have been one of the groups capturing the increasing impact of off-site purchases by buyers hoping to “flip on” new build properties for quick profit. Many of those buyers drive from Asia. Those easy wins have gone into reverse and many buyers cannot complete sales.
Berkeley Homes has already stated it will cut back building in London.
Different measures
There can appear a wide divergence between various measures of house prices. The most thorough is the Land Registry which captures every single sale though has a long delay in obtaining full figures.
Rightmove is the least reliable as it only lists advertising prices and not sale prices.
Halifax and Nationwide only measure their respective mortgages.
LSL are one of the better measures given the wider scope of coverage which can indicate coming trends.
The full report can be seen here.
Oh FFS. Typical. Bought a flat in Woolwich on the basis of several articles on various property websites that the value with go up…to read it’s gone down by a substantial 6% is an absolute gut punch.
NEVER trust articles in places like the Standard. Reliant on advertising revenue from developers so its only how great everything is.
I’d agree, Homes and Property articles in the Evening Standard are all done by the developers to sell properties.
Always likely after Osborne put a rocket up house prices in 2013/14 through Help to Buy along with the Bank of England through Funding for Lending.
There’s only so long you can push up prices by 10%+ when wages are going up 2% until it topples as well as rely on overseas buyers to pay over the odds. Those who bought new builds at high prices should worry.
Brexit has sped it up.
It’s rule 101 for UK politicians to pump house prices until it bursts. Easier in the short term than proper investment in research and development, infrastructure and manufacturing.
By the time it does burst Osborne is out and pointing fingers at the government as editor of the Evening Standard and Mark Carney near retirement and a hefty payout. Job done.
I honestly just wish there would be some shred of honesty when it comes to financial advisors. We’ve had talks with so many people who were adamant Woolwich was the place to buy. Now I just feel like a total mug and one who has just lost like 10 grand before even moving in. ‘Sake.
I wouldn’t necessarily use the Greenwich borough statistics as Gospel when it comes to Woolwich. I have bought a new build 2-bed flat in Trinity Walk for £430K, that’s already £200K cheaper than the equivalent flats in Royal Arsenal (which are actually less sq ft) and they’re only a 5 minute walk away. Even with some drop in overall London prices, I’d expect the value of my property to increase as Woolwich regenerates. Depending on where you brought you should still see some value increase in the coming years after Crossrail opens.
@Sim: there is no RIGHT part of Woolwich. The whole place is basically a sh!thole, albeit with some shiny highrise buildings plonked down along the riverfront. I have known Woolwich and it’s surrounding areas for nearly 50 years and I wouldn’t live there if you paid me.
I wouldn’t disagree with you regarding the town centre, and indeed there is a lot of social housing. The area is never going to be a Greenwich or Blackheath, but it’s not any worse than most other poor areas of urban London. The difference is new build flats + easy transport is all that young professionals want at this stage in life, and Woolwich will have this is excess which will accelerate the change. Crossrail is completely different to the DLR in terms of the stations it’ll serve.
I guess we’re going to be neighbours soon then! I’m moving into a flat at Trinity Walk on Saturday…
I find the plans for development in and around the town centre and on the riverside to be very encouraging indeed – it’s what attracted us in the first place – and Crossrail is certainly going to be a big plus when it finally opens. It’s kind of incomparable to the DLR really considering that only serves the Docklands, whereas Crossrail is 15 minutes into the centre of town. That’s a huge difference.
To be honest, I hear a lot of negative scathing comments regarding Woolwich, and the state of it’s “hole” so to speak, but of all the times I’ve visited I’ve found it to be alright. No worse than Brixton when I lived round there for instance. Sure it’s busy, and yes there are some social housing blocks, but people are too quick to say an area is unsafe and rubbish because of poor people. It’s a bit unfair that I think.
Besides, The Equitable is one of the most interesting pubs I’ve been to in ages. Great booze selection, lovely staff and a proper weird interior. …and as little town high streets go, I think it’s quite decent ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Sure there are worries in terms of a return on our investment over time (especially seeing as it’s a new build), but I’m hopeful. …if only this Brexit thing will go away and get rid of all this uncertainty!
Social housing and poor people is not what makes an area problematical. It’s being overlooked by a local authority that has been raking in s106 receipts yet refusing to spend it in uplifting the area or providing more and better housing. Walk along the riverfront at Woolwich and then venture into the ‘unfashionable’ streets to see the difference.
Everyone always big ups places near transport but its not always guaranteed. The DLR wasn’t the major boost many agents claimed it would be.
Prices may drop by say 15% if other places drop by 25%, but if you paid a premium of more than 10% you’re worse off when it all shakes out.
It will be a rough winter for the market in all liklihood as bBexit arguments persist and interest rate rises push through. If looking to sell probably best to do so sharpish. If buying hold off till next year.
Thank god prices ar elooking to come down!
They need to come down significantly more though before I consider stepping on to the proprty ladder.
People who have over extending themselves financially, think prices will always go up (well they do in the long term, but can people have to survive the tough economic times) are going to get a a very nasty surprise!
With the estate agents taking a battering, it’s good news for me. Maybe the estate agents won’t be so greedy pushing up prices and ripping people off with high rental fees etc
Regarding woolwich, they can keep throwing money at it, but the people who cause the problems in the area will stay the same!
All the high desnisty housing will only add to the problem