The long “Brexit dip” in the London property market appears to have have bottomed out ahead of a possible spring revival.
Although the average price of a home in the capital fell 0.5 per cent in November to £475,458, they rose year on year for the second time in the last three months, latest Land Registry figure showed today.
The slight autumn upturn followed 18 consecutive months of annual falls as buyers and sellers stayed away from the market during three years of Brexit turmoil.
Boroughs with hefty annual rises included Camden (up 6.8 per cent), Barking & Dagenham (4.9 per cent), Haringey (4.5 per cent) and Tower Hamlets (4.4 per cent).
The biggest falls were in the most expensive boroughs, led by Kensington & Chelsea, where there was a 12.6 per cent decline, and Westminster, where the average price fell 8.8 per cent to below the £1 million mark.
David Westgate, Group Chief Executive at estate agents Andrews Property Group, said: “Arguably the dominant narrative in the property market during the closing months of 2019 was a growing indifference to Brexit and this shows through quite decisively in November.
“A lot of people were fed up with the noise of Brexit and politics in general and decided to get on with their lives.
“There will naturally be a number of caveats surrounding the November data in light of the General Election but overall the market put in a strong performance in what was a highly uncertain environment.
“Also contributing to the uplift was the fact that a lot of people wanted to get the wheels in motion before the General Election result, just in case it delivered a curveball.
“The fact that this growth came before Boris Johnson’s landslide win bodes well for the year ahead.
“There is a huge amount of pent-up demand in the market and we are already seeing it start to come through. Crucially, even aspirational movers are coming back to the market, which underlines how sentiment has improved.”
Nick Leeming, Chairman of agents Jackson-Stops, said: “Post-election, a degree of certainty has now been welcomed back to the market and the property industry is set to be entering a new phase of growth.
"With the so-called ‘Boris bounce’ set to create momentum in the industry, we expect to see a release of pent-up property demand and for the market to return to business-as-usual.