Average Wimbledon House Price Now Over One Million
Lender caution over mortgages believed to be skewing market
Mallards on Southside Common went for £6,750,000
The average price of a home sold in Wimbledon has reached over one million according to the latest official figures.
According to the Land Registry there were 117 sales in the fourth quarter of 2020 in the SW19 postcode area at an average of £1,131,816 . This represents an increase of 41.2% over the same period in 2019.
The massive increase is partly down to a change in the type of properties being sold. In the last three months of 2019 around half the properties sold in the area were flats and maisonettes. This fell to just over a quarter in the latest period. Although there is some evidence of general price appreciation in Wimbledon, the main reason for the size of the rise in the average is that more expensive types of properties are making up a bigger proportion of the transactions taking place.
A number of reasons have been put forward for the change in the structure of the market but most estate agents believe that it is the relative willingness of banks to grant mortgages for larger properties which is driving the change.
A local agent said, ‘At the moment lenders are tripping over themselves to offer excellent deals to anyone who can bring lots of equity to the party. More often than not this is a buyer on their third or fourth move looking for a large family house. For first time buyers with limited equity, the picture is very different with the banks extremely cautious and approvals taking a long time.
“Like so many things that have happened over the past year this may be a change that is here to stay. The state of the economy makes it unlikely that banks will get gung ho about lending for any mortgages that aren’t virtually riskless.
“Even without the lending constraints the picture for flats looks decidedly mixed and more downward price pressure should be expected when the stamp duty holiday ends. Quite a few buy-to-let investors are looking to reduce the size of their portfolios with rents softening and voids increasing. Although Wimbledon doesn’t have the level of new flat supply in the pipeline that other areas have, there is enough coming to put a cap on capital gains for a while.”
There were six properties reported as being sold for over £3,000,000 in the final quarter of 2020 with the most expensive of these being Mallards on Southside Common. The modem detached house with views of Wimbledon Common went for £6,750,000.
It is believed possible that the preponderance of larger properties being sold will increase further as the stamp duty holiday which is in place at least until 31 March tends to be most supportive of transactions around the £500,000 mark.
Wimbledon Property Prices (October - December 2020) |
|||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Area | Detached | Sales | Semi-det | Sales | Terrace | Sales | Flat/ mais |
Sales | Overall ave | Total sales | |
| SW19 1 | 0 | 0 | 905750 | 1 | 854000 | 10 | 401125 | 4 | 736683 | 15 | |
| SW19 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 682833 | 6 | 377700 | 5 | 544136 | 11 | |
| SW19 3 | 0 | 0 | 975000 | 2 | 890356 | 10 | 445000 | 3 | 812571 | 15 | |
| SW19 4 | 3991667 | 3 | 2350000 | 2 | 1950000 | 1 | 678000 | 5 | 2001364 | 11 | |
| SW19 5 | 3800000 | 1 | 700000 | 1 | 1325000 | 3 | 837500 | 2 | 1450000 | 7 | |
| SW19 6 | 0 | 0 | 1350000 | 1 | 672500 | 2 | 452500 | 6 | 601111 | 9 | |
| SW19 7 | 4348333 | 3 | 2065200 | 5 | 1895500 | 3 | 613975 | 4 | 2100893 | 15 | |
| SW19 8 | 1650000 | 1 | 780000 | 1 | 1056716 | 29 | 345000 | 3 | 1003228 | 34 | |
| Total | 3808750 | 8 | 1593212 | 13 | 1017841 | 64 | 503091 | 32 | 1131816 | 117 | |
|
44.9% | -11.1% | 29.5% | -40.9% | 19.9% | -13.5% | 11.7% | -61.4% | 41.0% | -37.8% | |
| Change in year | 33.6% | -38.5% | 24.3% | -61.8% | 25.5% | -27.3% | 10.2% | -74.8% | 41.2% | -55.3% | |
|
46.2% | -46.7% | 27.7% | -56.7% | 17.6% | -15.8% | 10.7% | -75.6% | 41.3% | -53.6% | |
| Change in Five Years | 15.3% | 33.3% | 16.5% | -60.6% | 27.5% | -39.0% | 9.6% | -82.1% | 58.3% | -63.8% | |
| Change in Ten Years | 46.4% | -61.9% | 125.5% | -63.9% | 123.5% | -34.7% | 37.6% | -80.5% | 95.5% | -63.3% | |
Source: Land Registry
The Nationwide House Price Index for January showed that the annual rate of increase i slowed to 6.4% from 7.3% in December, while average house prices have fallen by 0.3% month-on-month, from £230,920 in December to £229,748 in January.
Robert Gardner, chief economist at Nationwide, said, “To a large extent, the slowdown probably reflects a tapering of demand ahead of the end of the stamp duty holiday, which prompted many people considering a house move to bring forward their purchase. While the stamp duty holiday is not due to expire until the end of March, activity would be expected to weaken well before that, given that the purchase process typically takes several months (note that our house price index is based on data at the mortgage approval stage).”
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February 14, 2020