Two Tier Market Developing In Chiswick Property

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Figures for fourth quarter show prices have fallen from previous highs

A warning that a "two-tier" property market is developing in Chiswick with prime sales high and 'secondary' properties not selling well, has been made by Chiswick Estate Agent Andrew Nunn.

He was reacting to the latest figures for the fourth quarter which show that prices remained high towards the end of 2012 but have fallen back from the quarter of a million pound average that they were approaching earlier.

According to the latest figures released by the Land Registry the average price paid for a home in W4 in the fourth quarter of 2012 was over £702,518. This is up by 14.4% over the same period last year.

Andrew Nunn commented:“Whilst average houses prices in any given time period will fluctuate it is not surprising to see growth of 14.4% over the course of the last 12 months.

"Limited supply and strong demand suggests that this trend is likely to continue for the foreseeable future. London bricks and mortar remains an attractive option for overseas money and Chiswick has benefited from this investment in recent years.

"The figures mentioned are based on actual sales but the flip side is that there are a number of properties not selling well which suggests a clear “two tier market” for property in W4. Prime is selling exceptionally well and secondary and tertiary are more price sensitive and so to achieve the best result it is important to have a clear understanding of the micro market within W4 before putting your home up for sale."

Christian Harper of Oliver Finn said; It’s no surprise to see a rise in the average price in Q4 2012 as the trend would tend to continue against historical sales a few months before and as we all know Q3 2012 was a record breaker.  This increase is certainly attributed to a lack of new stock in Q3 2012 causing buyers to ‘pay the price’ if they wanted to secure a new home. 

"I am not disappointed that the average figure is lower than Q3 as the cyclical nature of the industry would expect to see less activity from October through to December.

"I very much look forward to seeing the results for Q1 2013 and expect that we will see yet another rise as new stock levels are poor compared to many previous years.  Although I would love to say that OliverFinn is unique in selling 97% of all new stock so far this year, I think its honest to say that all agents are enjoying a steady flow of new buyers with not much to sell them. I would definitely state that we are in a sellers market. 

"Homes around the £2m price tag are going to be interesting to watch.  As politicians yet again start to talk about mansion taxes on property over £2m against reintroducing the 10p rate, I would expect sellers who are considering moving over the next few years to consider placingtheir houses on the market now at a slightly higher level rather than taking the risk of a new tax being introduced with a new parliament.  A mansion tax over £2m would undoubtedly create a larger divide.  Let’s see if sellers take the medium term view and instruct agents in 2013 or continue living the dream of prices never falling in W4! "

London was the best performing part of England and Wales during 2012 with an increase of 8.4% The average price of a home in London is now £371,223 according to the Land Registry.

For England and Wales as a whole prices rose by 1.7% over the year to £162,080.

The most up-to-date figures available show that during October 2012, the number of completed house sales in England and Wales decreased by 3 per cent to 56,337 compared with 57,988 in October 2011.

The number of properties sold in England and Wales for over £1 million in October 2012 increased by 14 per cent to 623 from 548 in October 2011.

All regions saw a decrease in repossessions between October 2011 and October 2012 ranging from 8 per cent in the South East to 35 per cent in the North East.

Chiswick Property Prices (October - December 2012)
Area	Detached	Sales	Semi-Det	Sales	Terraced	Sales	Flat/ Mais	Sales	Total Ave.	Total Sales
W4 1	2599000	5	1429075	5	1058690	16	411576	19	997764	45
W4 2	0	0	1853333	3	795291	18	446295	10	785103	31
W4 3	0	0	1133000	3	746000	12	395737	29	541531	44
W4 4	0	0	1470000	4	0	0	367127	16	587702	20
W4 5	0	0	0	0	724428	23	444353	27	573188	50
Total	2599000	5	1465625	15	824176	69	412186	101	702518	190
Change in Quarter	-	-	12.9%	-31.8%	-9.4%	0.0%	5.2%	-1.9%	3.5%	-2.1%
Change in year	-	-	6.6%	-16.7%	-1.2%	35.3%	4.2%	-11.4%	14.4%	3.8%
Change in three years	-	-	51.1%	-37.5%	29.2%	32.7%	22.2%	32.9%	25.6%	21.0%
Change in five years	-	-	43.7%	-70.0%	9.1%	0.0%	9.1%	-6.5%	10.6%	-17.4%

Roughly speaking the post code sector areas are as follows:

1 - Bedford Park and the north side of the High Road

2 - The south side of the eastern end of the High Rd down to the river at Corney Reach

3 - The Grove Park area and over to Strand on the Green

4 - The west of Chiswick between the A4 and Chiswick High Rd - (a high concentration of flats)

5 - The north west of Chiswick - Acton Green mainly

 

February 18, 2013