London sees Britain’s largest house price drop over last four weeks
London house prices were the worst performing in Britain as they fell by the largest amount over the last four weeks.
The average asking price for the capital's houses dropped by 2.6 per cent compared to a national decrease of 1.2 per cent, the Rightmove house price index revealed.
Westminster was the worst performing in London with prices flopping 14.5 per cent from an average of £1.9m to £1.6m – this has capped a torrid last 12 months that was seen nearly a quarter wiped off values in the borough. Kensington and Chelsea was another notable laggard as prices declined 12.5 per cent.
The four week decline is not the largest seen in recent years, as in 2014 and 2010 house prices fell by 3.1 per cent during the same period. Moreover, a fall is not uncommon given that the same period averages a 2.2 per cent slide for the last six years.
“Many prospective buyers take a summer break from home-hunting and those who are coming to market at this quieter time of year tend to price more aggressively.
"In addition, owners of more highly-priced properties tend to prioritise their holidays over putting their property up for sale, which gives some anomalies in average prices in the most expensive boroughs at this time of year.” said Rightmove's Miles Shipside.
Read more: Should we be prepared for big falls in UK house prices?
Despite the four week decline across London, annual prices are still 2.1 per cent higher than this time last year.
Moreover, a number of London's boroughs bucked the downward four-week trend. Enfield was the best performing over the period with prices increasing by 4.5 per cent – capping a near 14 per cent increase over the last 12 months.
Outside of London, the best performing region over the last four weeks was Yorkshire and Humberside with prices increasing by 1.2 per cent and the best year-on-year region was the East of England with an increase of 8.2 per cent.