The latest figures from the Land Registry suggest that property prices in the Chiswick area may have started to fall.
In the third quarter the average price of a home sold with a W4 post code was over £700,000 the highest ever level for a three month period. However since the beginning of September the average has been just over £600,000 with activity at the higher end of the market much more subdued. Only eight properties sold for over £1 million during the period, a relatively small proportion of the total market compared with previous months.
Local estate agent Christian Harper of Oliver Finn was not surprised by the apparent decline as his firm's analysis shows that October tends to see falls in both volumes and prices following the rush to complete before the end of the school holidays.
He said, "Circa £600k is a sensible average price level for Chiswick and I feel that the longer we maintain this level, the more likely we are to continue to disregard the generally negative path of national figures.
Market forecast
'If stock becomes too expensive to buy, we will see a sudden knee jerk reaction which may cause the figure to drop closer to the 2005/6 average price figure of £500k."
He added, "I predict November/December to show a reduction in numbers of transactions whilst maintaining a similar £600k average. Stock supply will be the big test. Short supply usually causes sharp increases in prices which typically follows with a jump of the cliff. All I can hope is that the market will see a larger amount of fresh stock in the New Year to fuel next year's market."
According the Land Registry's October report the average price in London was £340,308 which was down by 1.6% on September. Despite this prices are still up over the last 12 months - London is the only area of the UK in which there has been a rise.
The October data from Land Registry's national House Price Index shows an annual price decrease of 3.2% which takes the average property value in England and Wales to £159,999.
Analysis from
ChiswickW4.com
Table of August/September 2011 Property Sales in Chiswick.
