Fulham Property Market Grinds to a Halt

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Less than one property a day changes hands

The latest figures from the Land Registry show that the

property market in Fulham was at a standsill in the first quarter of this year.

Only 84 properties were sold in January and March, down by 65% - or almost two thirds - from the total of 241 which changed hands in the same period last year, when the market was still buzzing.

Just as worrying for SW6 estate agents, sales so far this

year were also 20% lower than in the previous three months, from October to December, when 107 transactions took place.

Sales of flats have taken the biggest plunge - from 171 changing hands in January to March last year, just 40 were sold in the same period this year.

Sales of houses however have experienced less dramatic falls, and have started to show some recovery this year. 44 terraced houses were sold between January and March, down from 70 in the same period last year, but up slightly on the 40 house sales between October and December.

Prices at first glance appear to be making a gradual recovery, but a closer look reveals that much of this is due to the "posh development" effect on the figures. Between January and March, two luxury apartments at riverside development Imperial Wharf sold for £3,195,000 and £2,400,000. With so few transactions taking place across Fulham, these two sales have distorted the overall figures, so they appear to show prices of flats have risen by over 12%.

In fact, prices of more modest flats in other areas of Fulham have continued to fall.

Statistics on house sales however, do offer a glimmer of hope. Not only have sales risen modestly, prices too appear to be climbing again. In the first quarter of this year, the average house price was £938,023.

That is 6% lower than the average this time last year of at £997, 411. But the cheering news is that compared with the last quarter of 2008, when the average slumped to £794,228, this represents a rally of over 18%.

 

Area	Terraced	Sales	Flat/Mais	Sales	Total Averages	Total Sales
SW6 1	461250	4	308000	4	384625	8
SW6 2	964375	4	1035562	8	1011833	12
SW6 3	1377333	15	472550	4	1186852	19
SW6 4	540000	3	301000	5	390625	8
SW6 5	773250	8	363750	10	545750	18
SW6 6	709583	6	351666	3	590277	9
SW6 7	711750	4	321733	6	477740	10
Total	938023	44	488365	40	723900	84
Change over quarter	18.1%	10.0%	12.4%	-40.3%	27.2%	-21.5%
Change over year	-6.0%	-37.1%	-15.0%	-76.6%	3.8%	-65.1%

 

 

May 21, 2009