House price slowdown hits London
After months of the London property market recording strong growth a house price slowdown has hit the capital.
According to the monthly national housing survey from Hometrack, prices dropped by 0.1 per cent in July.
This is the first time in seven months that Hometrack has recorded a price drop.
Demand has also dropped for the month with a national decline of 2.1 per cent.
Some of the most shocking figures have been recorded in the usually strong London market.
New buyer registrations in the capital dropped by 2.4 per cent which is well below previous averages.
And while overall prices went up in the capital by 0.1 per cent, this rate of growth is much slower than previous months.
“The survey of 1,500 agents and surveyors across the country shows that the housing markets of London and the South East - areas that have supported headline price growth since the beginning of the year - are starting to slow as demand weakens and supply rises,”
“House prices are particularly sensitive to changes in levels of demand and during the first four months of the year there was a strong rise in the number of buyers registering with agents - especially in Southern England - and with this came price rises.
“Now, however, demand is starting to falter across the board. The seasonal downturn has begun and this combined with a weakening economy is impacting on demand for housing.”
Another notable drop for the month was in demand with the south east of the country seeing a drop of 3.4 per cent.
