Latest sales show big decrease in number of W4 'property millionaires'

House in Walpole Gardens went for over £4million recently

Chiswick property prices, which have defied gravity for the last few years, have finally seen a decisive downturn.

The latest sales data from the Land Registry shows that prices in the W4 post code area were down by 11.9% over the last year.

Uncertainty over Brexit and stamp duty have combined to see the average sales price in Chiswick fall during the third quarter of this year to £871,676 having been around the million pound mark for some time.

James Waight, branch manager of John D Wood & Co said, "The property market in Chiswick has seen a double digit fall in prices over the last year. This is not because Chiswick has become a less desirable location to live but due to wider economic and political factors.

"There is still a huge demand for properties in Chiswick, however, buyers are being far more cautious when making offers. This can be contributed to the uncertainty surrounding our departure from the EU, with many worried about the consequences should there be no deal agreed between the UK and EU. Stamp duty is another key factor effecting price growth, the cost of this tax has a huge impact on buyer's affordability and has deterred many would be buyers and sellers."

One area of the market that continues to perform well is larger family houses which appear to have risen in price although the low number of sales makes it difficult to be sure on the direction of the market. High priced sales include over £4,000,000 for a home on Walpole Gardens and £3,000,000 in Marlborough Crescent.

Terraced houses, however faired less well with the average price down by 14.1% For the first time in a while there are a reasonable number of this type of property for sale for less than a million pounds.

James from John D Wood added, "While there continues to be a demand for properties in the area, due to Chiswick's popularity as a place to live, it is difficult to persuade people to put houses on the market for a price marked well down from what they would have received even twelve months ago.

"These would be buyers and sellers have opted to invest the money they would have spent on stamp duty on extending or improving their current property. Despite the dip in values and transaction levels, we are still agreeing sales within a swift timescale, having recently agreed three sales all within the first three weeks of marketing. "

Flat prices have been particularly hard hit, down by 21.5% over the last year. New build developments seem to be seeing mixed sales with the Chiswick 500 project continuing to find buyers but the Chiswick Gate development by Hogarth Roundabout saw only two flats sold during the third quarter.

One local property commentator said, "Chiswick flats sales have been particularly hard hit by the stamp duty changes because a lot of units are in the price bracket just above half a million where impact has been heaviest. It has become much more economic to buy below this level which has meant vendors have had to cut prices or buyers will look at other area."

The latest figures from the Nationwide's House Price Index show that prices nationally have continued to rise slowly with the average sale price now £214,534 up by 1.6% over the year.

Commenting on the figures, Robert Gardner, Nationwide's Chief Economist, said, “Looking further ahead, much will depend on how broader economic conditions evolve. If the uncertainty lifts in the months ahead, there is scope for activity to pick-up throughout next year. The squeeze on household incomes is already moderating and policymakers have signalled that interest rates are only expected to raise at a modest pace and to a limited extent in the years ahead.”

The October 2018 RICS UK Residential Market Survey results show the recent softening in new buyer demand beginning to feed into a slightly negative trend for national house prices in the view of the surveyors’ industry body.

The report says, “A sustained softening in demand over recent months has likely driven the weaker price trends in parts of the country. The net balance for new buyer enquiries ticked down to -14% in October (compared with -12% last month), marking three successive reports in which headline demand has deteriorated. Affordability pressures, political uncertainty and a lack of fresh stock coming onto the market all continue to hinder activity to varying degrees.”

The report adds that new instructions to surveyors continue to fall meaning stock levels remain close to all-time lows and rendering any chance of a meaningful turnaround in the near future unlikely. A net balance of 30% of respondents reported the level of appraisals being undertaken to be down on an annual comparison.

Looking ahead, respondents in London and the South East were the most negative with price falls expected over the next twelve months.

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ChiswickW4.com is the only place that you will find detailed analysis of the Chiswick property market.

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

November 18, 2018