Strong start to the year for local home prices

Putney property seems to have rebounded strongly so far this year after a disappointing end to 2011.

According to the Land Registry 68 properties have sold to date in 2012 at an average price of £658,544. This is well above the levels seen in previous months. In in last quarter of 2011 sales of detatched and semi-detatched properties in the SW15 area fell by around 75%. This brought the average price for an SW15 property down to £475,437 a significant drop from the previous three months.

The main reason for the sharp rise appears to be a recovery in demand for properties at the top end the market. In December 2011 only 2 homes sold for over £1 million whereas 11 have sold since then with the highest price achieved being for a property in Roedean Crescent which went for £2,950,000.

The region in England and Wales which experienced the highest increase in its average property value over the last 12 months is London with a movement of 2.9%. London also experienced the greatest monthly rise with a movement of 2.5%. The North East experienced the greatest annual price fall with a decrease of 4.5%.

The January data from Land Registry's flagship House Price Index shows an annual price decrease of 1.0% which takes the average property value in England and Wales to £161,545. The monthly change from December to January is 1.1%.

The most up-to-date figures available show that, during November 2011, the number of completed house sales in England and Wales increased by 3% to 57,967 compared to 56,312 in November 2010. The number of properties sold in England and Wales for over £1 million in November 2011 decreased by 4% to 524 from 548 in November 2010.

Local agent Allan Fuller commented on the recent figures:
"The latest statistics released from the Land Registry  certainly make interesting reading, and prove to any doubters that the property market around Putney is lively and active, even in winter!

It also again confirms the fact that London and areas as popular as Putney bear little relationship to the rest of the country. Also the report highlights the amount of activity that there has been in house sales especially in the higher end of the market.

He continued: " The recent budget may however have some effect here, 7% stamp duty is a large amount for buyers to pay over 2 million, it might not affect many of us, but could make buyers think twice at that level and either decide to pay less, or even decide not to move up to a bigger property, but extend their existing property, so more loft conversions and basement excavating may result! So it could mean fewer properties coming on to the market generally.

It is also a shame that the stamp duty holiday for first time buyers has ended and that they will have to pay 1% up to £250,000 again, they need all the help they can get as it is so hard for them to save for a deposit, although we find it is often the bank of Mum and Dad that has to help out, another example of the affluence of our location.

With so many events this year, especially  the Jubilee and the Olympics which are bound to predominate,  they  could well slow activity while they are on, but the underlying trend of recovery and increasing activity will I am sure continue, no matter what your property plans are why not get in touch with us for friendly and professional advice."

The numbers below are subject to revision as is it usual that some properties are added late to the Land Registry's database. The latest reported sales are given in the table below.

Properties Sold in SW15 - January 2012

Copyright notice: All figures in this article are based on data released by the Land Registry. The numbers are derived from analysis performed by PutneySW15.com. Any use of these numbers should jointly attribute the Land Registry and PutneySW15.com.

March 27, 2012