Property prices in London have always been high, but in February the average price rose 5.4 per cent to reach a record high of ￡643,843 (S$1.3 million). It could be due to buyers coming out from the winter hibernation and back into the market. Even in London’s Barking & Dagenham, which is considered one of the districts with the lowest-priced properties, selling prices have risen 23 per cent to ￡291,638.
Photo: London property prices have risen once more.
However, the price rise does not seem to stem from the lack of properties, as the number of small properties have risen 10 per cent last year, and the total number of new properties listed across the United Kingdom have increase by 5 per cent. Out of the 32 boroughs in London, property prices have gone up 11 per cent in 23.
In the inner London boroughs, prices have increased 8 per cent to reach almost ￡848,000 and just over a month, prices nationwide have risen by 2.9 per cent. This places London as a city where home ownership is out of reach for most of their young inhabitants, despite the government rolling out interest-free loans in November last year under the Help-to-Buy programme where they can loan almost up to 40 per cent of the value of a new home.
