Asking house prices in London have risen by £80,000 since January

Asking house prices in London have risen by £80,000 since January
Rightmove's figures suggest annual rate of increase is approaching the level last seen in October 2007



The average asking price of a property in London has risen by £80,000 since the start of 2014, as sellers try to cash in on continuing demand from buyers, according to the property website Rightmove.

The listing site said asking prices in the capital hit an average of £592,763 in May, 3.3% up on April's figure and 16.3% higher than in May 2013.

Across England and Wales new sellers are asking 8.9% more than a year ago, at an average of £272,003. The annual rate is creeping closer to the 10.4% seen in October 2007 while a month-on-month rise of 3.6%, or £9,409, was the highest ever seen in May.

The figures follow comments over the weekend by the Bank of England governor, Mark Carney, that the property market poses a risk to economic recovery.

He warned of "deep, deep structural problems" in the UK market, and said the main problem was that not enough new homes were being built.

The strength of price rises in the capital has been driving fears of a bubble and calls for the Bank to step in to calm prices.

Rightmove said demand and asking prices were now rising across England and Wales, but the increases in London were distorting the national picture.

Asking prices in Greater London have risen by £4,405 a week in 2014, compared with £1,521 for the rest of the country.

An increase in new sellers earlier in the year was reversed in May as the number of homes being newly put up for sale fell 1% compared with April. It was thought to be the result of the timing of bank holidays.

Rightmove's director, Miles Shipside, said:"London prices traditionally pick up earlier than the rest of the country, and while it appears to be slowly dragging other regions along in its wake, the difference is still very marked, particularly when the percentage increases are turned into hard cash comparisons.

"Indeed, outside London and its commuter belt, demand may be better balanced with supply by the more stringent checks and affordability tests under the mortgage market review (MMR) that became mandatory less than a month ago.

According to Rightmove, 10 out of 32 boroughs in London recorded annual asking price rises of more than 20%, with a 43% increase in Tower Hamlets, east London, driven by cash buyers and investors in Canary Wharf and neighbouring areas.

Ben Butler, sales manager of estate agents Morgan Randall in Canary Wharf, said parts of Tower Hamlets were "investor territory".

"Around 65% of the properties we are selling are going to cash buyers, and we haven't sold a property for under asking price since around August 2013," he added. "As an example, one property sold in December 2013 for £425,000 and in March of this year an identical property in the same building sold for £575,000 – a £150,000 difference in just a few months."

However, in some parts of London estate agents say prices are starting to plateau as affordability restraints kick in. Typically first-time buyers in London are taking on mortgages of 3.8 times their income to buy homes, versus 3.4 times nationally.

Ed Mead of central London estate agent Douglas & Gordon said buyers were also starting to question high prices.

"Buyers, who after all make the market, have sort of called time on some prices being asked. They're not paying what's being asked," he said.

"Part of the reason for price rises is lack of stock which created something of a frenzy among agents looking for listings and pushing prices beyond what buyers will pay. When this happens there's usually a three month hiatus before sellers realise what's happening and adjust and that's what's happening now."

Recently the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development also warned that action may be needed to cool the market, calling for curbs on the government's Help to Buy scheme.

http://www.theguardian.com/money/2014/may/19/house-prices-london-rise-80000-rightmove

Completely crazy!

yep...all due to "liberalists" policies of uncontrolled mass immigration....

clue.....NO the answer isnt to cover yet more of our precious greenery with more concrete and tarmac.....

Ok. Pretty sure real estate is going to cause another GFC. the sort of Growth they are try to push is unsustainable and So much of it is on credit     

victorisnotamused wrote:yep...all due to "liberalists" policies of uncontrolled mass immigration....

clue.....NO the answer isnt to cover yet more of our precious greenery with more concrete and tarmac.....

Bollocks, the ordinary people and the immigrants can't afford houses in London. They are being bought up by property investors, many of whom live abroad.

who are "they"???

house prices are market driven...there's a shortage...caused by......unsustainable, idiotic and unreasonable immigration....prices rocket....

maybe...but the same applies across the country...prices are rising...

the immigrants dont need to "afford" a house...they get given one....  

victorisnotamused wrote:who are "they"???

house prices are market driven...there's a shortage...caused by......unsustainable, idiotic and unreasonable immigration....prices rocket....

So wouldn't you agree Victor that Thatcher played a huge part in the housing shortage of today?

victorisnotamused wrote:who are "they"???

house prices are market driven...there's a shortage...caused by......unsustainable, idiotic and unreasonable immigration....prices rocket....

Mostly Chinese, Russian and Saudis who want a place in London, and property investors who buy up places, then leave them for years, which is one of the reasons there is a shortage, which again drives up prices.

http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/london-property-boom-how-chinas-investment-invasion-challenges-russian-arab-dominance-1443291

Joy Division wrote:

victorisnotamused wrote:who are "they"???

house prices are market driven...there's a shortage...caused by......unsustainable, idiotic and unreasonable immigration....prices rocket....

So wouldn't you agree Victor that Thatcher played a huge part in the housing shortage of today?

There were enough houses to go around when Thatcher left office.

So, what could it possibly be?

Either Labour knocked millions of houses down, or...

oh of course she did...but it still wouldnt help..immigrants come here...and get housed....our own youngsters...tough...EVEN IF WE STILL HAD COUNCIL HOUSES that would be the case...

and even thatcher didnt stop homes being built...BUT WE DONT WANT new towns every 5 years.....we have precious little "accessible" green left as it is....

victorisnotamused wrote:who are "they"???

house prices are market driven...there's a shortage...caused by......unsustainable, idiotic and unreasonable immigration....prices rocket....

Then Why is it world wide with the vast majority of purchases being by investors   
this issue isn't isolated to just the UK. it is another Bubble and it will pop and a lot of people will lose their money  

Joy Division wrote:

victorisnotamused wrote:who are "they"???

house prices are market driven...there's a shortage...caused by......unsustainable, idiotic and unreasonable immigration....prices rocket....

So wouldn't you agree Victor that Thatcher played a huge part in the housing shortage of today?

Would you be very kind JD, and on this thread stick to London, because the property boom in London is not matched anywhere else in the country, and it is because of overseas investors. It is pure and unadulterated capitalism, rich get richer and the ordinary joe goes to the wall.

BigAndy9 wrote:

Joy Division wrote:


So wouldn't you agree Victor that Thatcher played a huge part in the housing shortage of today?

There were enough houses to go around when Thatcher left office.

So, what could it possibly be?

Either Labour knocked millions of houses down, or...

We'll Thatcher did sell them for peanuts ...housing that is desperately needed now.

veya_victaous wrote:

victorisnotamused wrote:who are "they"???

house prices are market driven...there's a shortage...caused by......unsustainable, idiotic and unreasonable immigration....prices rocket....

Then Why is it world wide with the vast majority of purchases being by investors   
this issue isn't isolated to just the UK. it is another Bubble and it will pop and a lot of people will lose their money  

Exactly Veya, the rich of every country are investing in property in all the Capitals of the world. It is forcing house prices up in every capital, which means people are being forced to live further and further out if they work in the capital. In this country, rail fares are astromical, so not only do they have to move further out, but they have to then pay the cost of the travel.

Sassy wrote:

Joy Division wrote:


So wouldn't you agree Victor that Thatcher played a huge part in the housing shortage of today?

Would you be very kind JD, and on this thread stick to London, because the property boom in London is not matched anywhere else in the country, and it is because of overseas investors.   It is pure and unadulterated capitalism, rich get richer and the ordinary joe goes to the wall.

Yeah , that sounds about right Sass...snob's playground,

Ok, I will do

Joy Division wrote:

Sassy wrote:

Would you be very kind JD, and on this thread stick to London, because the property boom in London is not matched anywhere else in the country, and it is because of overseas investors.   It is pure and unadulterated capitalism, rich get richer and the ordinary joe goes to the wall.

Yeah , that sounds about right Sass...snob's playground,

Ok, I will do

Thanks.

Said it yesterday - It's just London and that's what the government and BoE should concentrate on.

well...londons sinking at 3cm per year...it should be 3 M per year but hey ho......

soon it will be a distant, if somewhat wet ....memory.....