By Sale prices in the prime Central London property market continue to decline on an annual basis; however, figures remain stable on a quarterly and monthly basis, with a recorded improvement in exchanges and transaction volumes in April 2019, according to the recent prime London sales index from real estate firm Knight Frank.
Market prices fell by 0.3 per cent monthly and were down 0.8 per cent quarter on quarter, with an annual drop of 5 per cent since April last year, according to the index.
The prime outer London index also revealed that the monthly values remained unchanged, with a decline of 0.2 per cent on a quarterly basis and 4.3 per cent compared to property prices in April 2018.
Increase in exchanges
Improvements in prime London property sales were also evidenced by an increase in the number of exchanges above £2 million, which rose by 1 per cent in the year to April, compared to the previous 12-month period.
All price brackets were down 9 per cent, which underlines how pent-up demand in higher-value markets is being released to a greater extent, following stamp duty-related price adjustments, according to Knight Frank.
Moreover, transaction volumes across all price brackets saw a rise in higher-value areas of London as well. In the Central London neighbourhood, exchanges increased by 7 per cent in the year to April, while North London was up 17 per cent.
Improvement in viewings and offers
The number of viewings for properties worth more than £2 million rose by 3 per cent in the first quarter of 2019, compared to the same period last year, according to Knight Frank.
Further improvements were also found in the number of offers made by buyers, which rose by more than a quarter, since the start of 2018. Over the same period, the value of new properties listed for sale was down over a third, which highlights the relatively advantageous position for active vendors, the prime London sales index shows.
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