Fulham Property Prices Soar Even Higher

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Terraced house owners in danger of having to pay mansion tax

The latest numbers for the Fulham property market show that prices have continued to rise through the autumn to reach yet another record high.

There were 292 properties reported as sold to the Land Registry in the SW6 post code area during the third quarter of 2014 at an average price of £1,180,367. This is up by 21.8% over the same period last year.

The best performing property type was the terraced house which now on average costs nearly £2,000,000, potentially making owners liable for the 'mansion tax' should it ever be introduced.

The move to a new record high is all the more impressive as there was relatively little activity at the very top end of the market with no detached houses selling during the three month period.

The previous quarter had benefited from Fulham's all-time high sale price with Lily Bridge House going for £18,000,000.

In addition, only two semi-detached houses changed hands, for £2,750,000 and £2,050,000.

By contrast, 103 terraced houses were sold at an average price of £1,939,257, up 18.8% on the previous quarter, and 187 flats, up 6.2% on the second quarter with an average price £749,324, close to breaking through the three quarters of a million mark for the first time.

London property prices generally are up by 18.4% to £460,521 in the year to end September according to the Land Registry although they are slightly down from the level seen at the end of August. The a average house price in England and Wales is now £177,299 compared with the peak of £181,324 in November 2007. This is a rise of 7.2% compared with the same month last year.

 

The most up-to-date figures available show that during July 2014 the number of completed house sales in England & Wales increased by 7 per cent to 79,214 compared with 73,749 in July 2013. The number of properties sold in England and Wales for over £1 million in July 2014 increased by 19 per cent to 1,439 from 1,207 in July 2013.

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) are striking a cautious note pointing out that demand for property in London has been down for six months in a row. Prices are also falling in more recent months according to their survey which covers sales up to the end of October.

London is experiencing a fall in buyer demand with 62% more chartered surveyors reporting a fall over the last month. Significantly, a little more stock is now coming onto the market with 15% more chartered surveyors seeing a rise in new instructions up from 3% more last month. The RICS say that this points to the market in London moving towards a more sustainable position and they remain modestly positive on a twelve month view.

In London, tenant demand was broadly flat over the last quarter. Despite this, rents are still expected to continue to move higher albeit by a little less than 2 per cent over the next twelve months.

Simon Rubinsohn, RICS Chief Economist, said, 'The flatter trend in the market is partly a reflection of potential buyers becoming a little more cautious about making a purchase as more stringent lending criteria has made it harder to access mortgage finance. An increasing awareness of the approaching general election also appears to be contributing to the softer market if the responses to the latest survey are anything to go by. However, with new instructions still flat at a headline level as has been the case for most of the last year it seems implausible that the dip in demand will result in very much of a decline in house prices.'

A detailed listing of properties sold recently in the area will be appearing in a forthcoming edition of the Fulham newsletter.

Fulham Property Prices (July - September 2014)
Area	Semi-detached	Sales	Terraced	Sales	Flat/ mais	Sales	Overall Ave	Overall Sales
SW6 1	-	-	2102500	4	736998	22	947075	26
SW6 2	-	-	1590349	14	840272	57	988174	71
SW6 3	2050000	1	2637786	21	917250	12	2013250	34
SW6 4	-	-	1924481	16	710504	30	1132757	46
SW6 5	-	-	2087700	15	671330	15	1379515	30
SW6 6	2750000	1	1737959	17	702971	29	1120882	47
SW6 7	-	-	1376410	16	601636	22	927857	38
Total	2400000	2	1939257	103	749324	187	1180367	292
Change over quarter	1.9%	-66.7%	18.8%	25.6%	6.2%	-0.5%	9.4%	5.0%
Change over year	-7.9%	-71.4%	23.7%	-24.3%	19.5%	-31.0%	21.8%	-29.6%
Change over three years	51.4%	-60.0%	64.9%	-24.8%	59.8%	-5.6%	53.3%	-14.1%
Change over five years	117.5%	-33.3%	93.4%	-22.0%	81.0%	35.5%	67.1%	7.0%
Change over ten years							141.4%	-

 

November 21, 2014