W4 Property Market Grinds to a Halt
Less than one home a day changing hands in Chiswick
The most recent figures released are showing that the number of property transactions in the area are continuing to plummet.
Less than one home a day changed hands in the local area and with around 40 agents competing for this business many must be going long periods without transacting a single sale.
Transactions in the fourth quarter of the year were down by over 60% compared to the corresponding period in 2007.
Faron Sutaria Sales Manager Christopher Simon told ChiswickW4.com, "The main issue we presently have in this area is the fact that we have an incredibly high level of serious, motivated buyers where we have qualified their financial position and their proceedability but there are so few new properties coming to market.
"The most frequent comment we have from buyers is that there is not much, if anything on the market that is suitable for them. As spring is nearly upon us, it is the busiest time of year for new buyer registrations eager to secure a property, so hopefully we will see more sellers coming to market. If people are moving up the property ladder, it is an excellent time to move."
Prices on average are down by 16.5% in the fourth quarter in line with the average decline for London. This still leaves them about a third higher than they were three years ago.
The overall average masks a differential between flats which have fallen by over 20% and houses which are down by less.
The Land Registry data for January for the country as a whole shows an annual house price change of -15.1 per cent. This marks the seventeenth month in a row where the annual rate of change has fallen. This contrasts with the 21 months of uninterrupted increases in the annual rate of change between December 2005 and August 2007. Prices in London were down by 14.1% over the year.
Oliver Finn's Christian Harper said, "Transactions are certainly at an all time low. However, backdated factual figures often provide a distorted view of a current market and it must be said that the number of transactions have improved as more and more of the public consider that we may be at the bottom of market prices, mortgages are cheap and many homeowners are only too happy to negotiate with a trustworthy, solid buyer"
The average property in England and Wales is currently worth £156,753 and the rate of monthly price change stands at -0.8 per cent. Sales volumes nationally have continued to decrease, with the number of sales averaging 41,014 per month in the months August to November 2008. In the same period in 2007, the average was £106,495.
The numbers are subject to revision as usually some properties are added late to the Land Registry's database
W4 Property Prices - October - December 2008
| Area | Semi-Det | Sales | Terraced | Sales | Flat/Mais | Sales | Total Ave | Total Sales |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W4 1 | 1622916 | 3 | 603969 | 12 | 315944 | 9 | 623328 | 24 |
| W4 2 | 780000 | 4 | 635000 | 8 | 329000 | 3 | 612467 | 15 |
| W4 3 | 0 | 0 | 872944 | 9 | 269722 | 9 | 571333 | 18 |
| W4 4 | 982500 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 286833 | 9 | 500884 | 13 |
| W4 5 | 0 | 0 | 348125 | 4 | 290457 | 13 | 304026 | 17 |
| Total | 1083523 | 11 | 653837 | 33 | 293382 | 43 | 530009 | 87 |
| Change in Quarter | 14.5% | -35.3% | -14.2% | -10.8% | -12.3% | -28.3% | -6.1% | -23.7% |
| Change in year | 6.2% | -78.0% | -13.5% | -52.2% | -22.4% | -60.2% | -16.5% | -62.2% |
| Change in three years | 61.1% | -63.3% | 29.5% | -63.7% | 6.3% | -70.1% | 32.7% | -67.2% |
| Change in five years | 67.7% | -79.2% | 44.6% | -59.3% | 16.8% | -72.1% | 37.8% | -70.5% |
Roughly speaking the post code sector areas are as follows:
1 - Bedford Park and the north side of the High Road
2 - The south side of the eastern end of the High Rd down to the river at Corney Reach
3 - The Grove Park area and over to Strand on the Green
4 - The west of Chiswick between the A4 and Chiswick High Rd - (a high concentration of flats)
5 - The north west of Chiswick - Acton Green mainly
March 6, 2009
