Richmond upon Thames is London’s only remaining borough where prices rose by at least double the rate in the last year.
The leafy suburb stretches from Kew Gardens to the north to Richmond Park to the south and defies a larger slowdown. According to a Bloomberg News analysis of data from the UK Land Registry, prices for homes rose 11% between May and June due to increased demand for open space.
These figures are smoothed to eliminate outlier transactions and show that the median price paid by a homeowner for a home in the borough was about £809,000 in May.
The cooling effect of the capital’s real estate market radiates out from its central boroughs. Values in these areas are unchanged or show negative annual growth. The market is being slowed by higher mortgage rates, spiralling inflation, and steeply rising energy prices.
According to Zoopla, Southwest London is experiencing lower buyer interest than in the past five years. It stretches from South Kensington to Wimbledon. This is due to the fact that the area was unaffordable due to the soaring property values. Data show that purchasers are less interested in the City of London and its edges.
The UK’s annual house price growth will cease if mortgage rates reach 4%. They will likely fall modestly if they exceed that level, Zoopla stated earlier this week. According to Moneyfacts Group Plc, the average fixed-rate five-year home loan rose above that level this month.
According to the Land Registry data, the average London home price was around £514,000 ($622,500) in May. This is a slight decrease from last summer.
Instead, growth has been concentrated in new homes markets where values reached a new peak of nearly £628,000 in May. Developers have been the biggest beneficiaries of the pandemic housing boom.
