London house prices bounce back as UK average dips
Average asking price for a home in the capital stood at £516,285 in October
The average price for a property in London was £516,285 in October 2021, according to the latest index by the HM Land Registry and Office for National Statistics (ONS). This is an increase of £9,429 (1.9%) from the September average of £506,856.
London remains the most expensive of any region in the UK, but it also continues to be the region with the lowest annual growth. Average prices increased by 6.2% over the year to October, up from 2.8% in September.
The capital’s property market was impacted by a lack of foreign buyers and the “race for space”, the London Evening Standard reported. However, it’s now re-emerging as one of the strongest property markets. House prices in London “started to bounce back” in the autumn just as they “slowed down in much of the rest of the nation following the end of the stamp duty holiday”.
Craig Tonkin, head of sales at London estate agent Bective, said that while we’re now starting to see signs of the market cooling across some areas of the UK, London continues to “build momentum” with one of the strongest rates of monthly house price growth of all regions. This has been driven by “an influx of foreign interest at the top end of the market” and, in particular, larger family homes which go under offer at pace due to a “severe shortage of supply”. With growing demand for London properties, the capital looks set to “enjoy a sustained level of house price growth throughout the remainder of the year and well into 2022”.
Average price by property type for London
| Property type | October 2021 | October 2020 | Difference % |
| Detached | £1,058,055 | £939,399 | 12.6% |
| Semi-detached | £660,278 | £605,395 | 9.1% |
| Terraced | £557,452 | £522,700 | 6.6% |
| Flat/maisonette | £434,260 | £415,993 | 4.4% |
| Overall | £516,285 | £486,212 | 6.2% |
Source: Gov.UK
UK average falls
The average price for property in the UK stood at £268,349 in October 2021 – down 1.1% from the September record of £271,368. This is a 10.2% increase over the year to October, down from 12.3% in September.
October data shows that average house prices in England have fallen by 1.5% since September. The annual price rise of 9.8% takes the average property value to £285,113. House prices in Wales have risen by 2.6% since September – an annual price rise of 15.5% takes the average property value to £203,224. In Scotland average house prices increased over the year to £181,000 (11.3%) and in Northern Ireland to £159,000 (10.7%).
