'No Cause for Alarm' Over SW15 House Price Fall

Latest official figures show average down by a fifth in third quarter

A six bedroom house on Chartfield Avenue went for £3,800,000. Picture: Move Market

December 1, 2023

Caution is being urged over new data which shows the average price of a home falling by a fifth in the SW15 postcode area.

According to figures from the Land Registry for the third quarter of this year, there were 111 residential properties sold at an average price of £842,434 which is 20.4% below the level in the same quarter of 2022.

However, local estate agents point out that the apparent sharp decline has been caused more by a shift in the type of properties changing hands rather than a general collapse in the market. A far smaller proportion of the transactions recently have involved larger houses which is the main factor behind the steep fall.

However, it does appear that, on a like for like basis, the market is on a downward trend with the price of the average terrace house dropping by 5.2% on the year although remaining comfortably above the million pound mark. Flats too have seen a fall to an average of £551,189 down 2.6%

The top priced property during the latest three months was a six-bedroom house on Chartfield Avenue which sold for £3,800,000 and a flat in the Gilbert Scott Building fetched over £2,000,000. Even these prices are well down on those seen earlier in the year. The highest price for a home in the area so far in 2023 was paid in January at £5,250,000 also for a house on Chartfield Avenue.

One Putney based agent commented, “There has been some softness in prices in the latter half of this year, but they are not really down by a fifth so there is no cause for alarm. The top end has been relatively the most resilient through the pandemic and the rise in interest rates as buyers tend to already have lots of equity in the market and a large house in a good London postcode area will always have a scarcity value. Even so, I detect increased caution from buyers whereas sellers are reluctant to accept bids much under asking which is causing a stand-off in many potential sales. There perhaps needs to be a mental adjustment made that we are entering a period of structurally higher interest rates but, at the same time, there is an increasing belief that they may have peaked. With the rental market still robust, that suggests that there is very good price support for Putney and Roehampton across all types of home. “

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




As of September 2023, the average house price in the UK is £291,385 falling by 0.1% compared to the previous year according to the Land Registry. For London, the average was down by 1.1% to £537,000.

The more current Nationwide House Price index showed that average prices across the country were up slightly compared with October but down by 2% over last year.

Commenting on the figures, Robert Gardner, Nationwide's Chief Economist, said, “UK house prices rose by 0.2% in November, after taking account of seasonal effects. This was the third successive monthly increase and resulted in an improvement in the annual rate of house price growth from -3.3% in October, to -2.0%. While this remains weak, it is the strongest outturn for nine months.

“There has been a significant change in market expectations for the future path of Bank Rate in recent months which, if sustained, could provide much needed support for housing market activity.

“In mid-August, investors had expected the Bank of England to raise rates to a peak of around 6% and lower them only modestly (to c.4%) over the next five years. By the end of November, this had shifted to a view that rates have now peaked (at 5.25%) and that they will be lowered to around 3.5% in the years ahead.

“These shifts are important as they have led to a decline in the longer-term interest rates (swap rates) that underpin fixed rate mortgage pricing, as shown below. If sustained, this will help to ease the affordability pressures that have been stifling housing market activity in recent quarters, where the number of mortgage approvals for house purchases has been running at c.30% below pre-pandemic levels.

“While mortgage rates are unlikely to return to the lows prevailing in the aftermath of the pandemic, modestly lower borrowing costs, together with solid rates of income growth and weak/negative house price growth, should help underpin a modest rise in activity in the quarters ahead.

“Nevertheless, a rapid rebound still appears unlikely. Cost-of-living pressures are easing, with the rate of inflation now running below the rate of average wage growth, but consumer confidence remains weak, and surveyors continue to report subdued levels of new buyer enquiries.”