2023 was a messy year for buyers, sellers and those remortgaging. Increased interest rates and a cost of living crises shattering many first time buyers’ dreams of homeownership while others struggled to make ends meet. Many extended mortgages, returned to rented, sold or had help from the bank of mum and dad, but what was really going on in the boroughs around central London? The UK Property quarterly Lonres data takeaways for 2023 paint a colourful picture of the sales market through the quarters in Central London, highlighting the areas that struggled to grasp reality and the others that had no choice.
Central London Property Price Discounts
The areas that were the most affected by discounts were some of the more central and affluent areas in the Capital. Discounts in Chelsea and Knightsbridge gathered momentum throughout the quarters. Chelsea starting at -8.7 and closing at -11.40%. While Knightsbidge started at -8.9% and closed at 12.8%. South Kensington also struggled but it was Mayfair that had the hardest price “reality check”. Topping the average discount on initial asking prices in every quarter with the exception of Q3. Closing Q4 with a chart topping 20.8% difference in the annual achieved price.
Sellers in these areas are generally cash rich and struggle to come to grips with the post pandemic about turn on house prices. Refusing to compromise, around 70% of properties then languished on and off market before finding a buyer.
West London Reductions
Over in west london, Fulham topped the percentage of properties reduced chart for the first 3 quarters, only to be out done by Richmond in Q4 at 56.50%. Average discounts in Fulham remained fairly constant throughout the year at around 8.3-9.4% but as time went on the percentage of properties left on the market for longer than 3 months increased from 68.8 to 72.9% by Q4.
City of Westminster borough consistency
The area to win the most consistent “annual change in achieved price” per quarter went to Bayswater. Here prices marginally improved, but remained fairly constant throughout the year; starting at -1.5% and closing at -0.4%. Perhaps due to the area being considered an area of growth due to the mixed development scheme around Queensway. But it was Knightsbridge alone that ended the year on a high, up 1% in Q4 in comparison to Q4 in 2023.
University uptake reduces discounts
Fitzrovia, Bloomsbury & Soho also made a recovery as students both from home and abroad returned to lectures and London life. From a dismal 2023 start, when the annual change in achieved price started at -10.6% closing at -1.6%, and the average discount reduced to -8.3% from -12.8% at the start of the year.
What 2024 holds for the UK Property market? Nobody really knows, but the current feeling is it can’t be any worse than the UK Property quarterly Lonres data takeaways for 2023. The catalysts for change, within the UK, remain: the Bank of England, the March Budget and the forthcoming election. Buckle up for an action packed year,
