Wandsworth Property Market Activity At Lowest Ever Level

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Smallest number of transactions recorded since records began

The Wandsworth property market has seen turnover drop to the lowest level since records began.

According to the Land Registry only 128 homes in SW18 changed hands in the last three months of 2017, a level which was even lower than that seen during the financial crisis in 2008-9. Although the number is likely to be revised up as some late sales are recorded, it is unlikely to exceed the previous low seen in the last quarter of 2008 when just 156 homes changed hands.

The average price of a home in the SW18 post code area has remained fairly static with the level dropping by 3.6% over the course of last year to £778,358. Flat prices fell more than those for houses, dropping by over 5%. Over the longer term home values have seen strong rises up by nearly 60% over the last decade.

Activity at the top end of the market has not ground to a complete standstill with three residential properties selling for over £2,000,000 including one on Trinity Road which went for £2,300,000.

According to the Nationwide House Price Index, property values in London as a whole fell for the first time in eight years during 2017 down by half a percent. This made it the weakest performing region of the country for the first time since 2004. London estate agent Foxtons has today (February 28th) announced a fall in revenue of 11% and has slashed its shareholders' dividend payout. Meanwhile Savills has reported a 4.2% drop in prices in Wandsworth and other 'prime' South West London locations.

Across the UK the price of the average home rose by 2.6% to £211,156 with low mortgage rates and healthy employment growth supporting price. However, prices were held back by mounting pressure on household incomes and declining consumer confidence. Demand from buy to let investors was also held back by stamp duty and tax changes during the year.

The RICS, the professional body for surveyors, is predicting a further - though slight - reduction in sales this year and further price declines in the London area. They are not expecting these to be significant because of the lack of supply.

RICS UK Market Survey has recently shown buyer enquires stalling, sales volumes stagnating and sentiment turning altogether more cautious as a result in the final quarter of the year. They say stock on estate agents books close to all-time lows.

Tarrant Parsons, RICS Economist, commented, "Following a pretty lacklustre finish to 2017, the indications are that momentum across the housing market will be lacking as 2018 gets underway. With several of the forces currently weighing on activity set to persist over the near term, it’s difficult to envisage a material step-up in impetus during the next twelve months. However, the fundamentals are not much changed from the end of 2017, so levels of activity should soften only marginally when compared to the year just ending. A real lack of stock coming onto the market remains one of the biggest challenges, while affordability constraints are increasingly curbing demand in some parts. Given these dynamics, price growth may fade to produce a virtually flat outturn for 2018.

"That said, despite the recent interest rate hike, mortgage rates are set to remain very favourable, with the prospect of further rises seemingly minimal over the coming year. Alongside this, government schemes such as help to buy should continue to provide some support to sales activity."

If your agent is claiming to be marketing your property effectively and it doesn't appear on WandsworthSW18.com it may be time to choose a new agent.

The numbers below are subject to revision as is it usual that some properties are added late to the Land Registry's database.

Property Prices in Wandsworth SW18 (October - December 2017)
Area	Detached	Sales	Semi-det	Sales	Terraced	Sales	Flat/ mais	Sales	Overall average	Total sales
SW18 1	0	0	777000	2	1091200	5	703775	28	763306	35
SW18 2	0	0	0	0	1682500	6	465417	6	1073958	12
SW18 3	1064000	1	1502002	2	979468	13	483846	13	796245	29
SW18 4	0	0	0	0	796462	13	491969	16	628466	29
SW18 5	1400000	1	1100000	1	980250	10	582501	11	813479	23
Total	1232000	2	1131601	5	1030651	47	581989	74	778358	128
Change in quarter	-65.0%	-50.0%	-17.6%	-68.8%	2.1%	-44.7%	3.5%	-57.0%	-1.4%	-53.8%
Change in year	-25.3%	0.0%	-42.8%	-66.7%	-1.8%	-7.8%	-5.4%	-55.2%	-3.6%	-45.1%
Change in three years	4.0%	0.0%	-2.0%	-50.0%	12.0%	-23.0%	16.3%	-74.3%	31.2%	-64.5%
Change in five years	92.8%	-50.0%	-18.9%	-73.7%	43.5%	-54.8%	51.1%	-65.7%	42.8%	-62.7%
Change in ten years	-34.6%	-66.7%	-8.6%	-68.8%	63.7%	-44.0%	68.9%	-67.3%	59.6%	-61.4%

 

Copyright notice: All figures in this article are based on data released by the Land Registry(© Crown copyright 2017). The numbers are derived from analysis performed by wandsworthsw18.com. Any use of these numbers should jointly attribute the Land Registry and wandsworthsw18.com.

February 28, 2018