Demand for apartments grows as price of houses stagnates
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Property demand in Chiswick seems to be switching towards smaller properties according to the latest data released on the market.
The average price of a flat in Chiswick rose to £415,901 during the first three months of this year. This is the highest quarterly average given by the Land Registry for flats in W4.
At the same the number of transactions involving flats is seeing healthy growth up by 24% compared with the same period last year.
On the other hand prices for houses seems to have continued falling with the price of the average terraced property in W4 falling by 14% compared with a year ago.
Interest in the top end of the market also seems to have dissipated with the Land Registry not reporting any detached properties as being sold so far this year.
Overall, the average price of a property in W4 fell by 9.7% compared with the same period in 2011. The larger proportion of flats sold contributed to the fall.
Christian Harper of Oliver Finn agents (www.oliverfinn.com) commented that contrary to the latest figures current activity is booming.
"Demand is far outweighing supply and we are back to sealed bids and open days as the norm. In an article early this year I predicted this level of activity if supply was not forthcoming. We are almost in a chicken and egg scenario as many existing W4 owners may consider that the next step is too far to reach with the latest increase in asking prices and therefore decide not to move which will starve the market from the ground upwards."
Joseph Murphy, Sales Director of Orchards of London commented that smaller space was not a barrier to selling property as new developments were finding more creative ways to make use of that space.
"Interestingly we have just taken on an instruction for seven luxury eco homes in a new gated development and the fascinating point is that the property developer and their architects focused on creating a home with the space they have available by making sure spaces are used for creative storage solutions and living/work spaces. We feel that even though size does matter it is often what you do with size that matters more."
This development is due to be launched this weekend and Mr Murphy says they have already been inundated with phone calls to view the properties.
Estate agency appears to still be a growing business in W4 and despite these latest figures combined with the slow down in transaction numbers another two agents have joined the race for instructions including Haus Properties which was set up by a former contestant on The Apprentice. Christian Harper is concerned that increased competition will lead to some agents overvaluing properties in order to gain instructions.
The March data from Land Registry's flagship House Price Index shows an annual price decrease of 0.6% which takes the average property value in England and Wales to £160,372. London remains the best performing area in the country with prices rising by 0.7% to £343,522 over the same period.
The most up-to-date figures available show that, during January 2012, the number of completed house sales in England and Wales increased by 13% to 42,511 compared to 37,584 in January 2011.
W4 Property Prices - January - March 2012
| Area | Semi-Det | Sales | Terraced | Sales | Flat/Mais | Sales | Total Ave | Total Sales |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W4 1 | 1450999 | 6 | 848437 | 8 | 423782 | 14 | 765230 | 28 |
| W4 2 | 1058000 | 9 | 854590 | 16 | 379991 | 6 | 821787 | 31 |
| W4 3 | 1461450 | 4 | 711000 | 8 | 418563 | 15 | 659713 | 27 |
| W4 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 427816 | 30 | 427816 | 30 |
| W4 5 | 778367 | 3 | 617696 | 15 | 405464 | 28 | 498990 | 46 |
| Total | 1200404 | 22 | 753497 | 47 | 415901 | 93 | 620383 | 162 |
| Change in Quarter | -12.7% | 22.2% | -9.7% | -7.8% | 5.1% | -18.4% | 1.0% | -11.5% |
| Change in year | 12.7% | -24.1% | -14.0% | -17.5% | 7.4% | 24.0% | -9.7% | -1.8% |
| Change in three years | 1.9% | 120.0% | 24.7% | 147.4% | 56.2% | 342.9% | 7.5% | 224.0% |
| Change in five years | 11.1% | -31.3% | 29.7% | -17.5% | 27.3% | -6.1% | 15.5% | -15.2% |
| Change in ten years | 60.2% | -35.3% | 95.3% | -24.2% | 110.2% | -27.9% | 82.6% | -29.3% |
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
May 20, 2012