This month has proved to be another record for London, with new sellers coming to the market at prices 1.2% (£6,000) higher, according to Rightmove.
However, the firm reported that there are signs some sellers will struggle to accelerate prices beyond this new high as the percentage rise is the lowest recorded in the month of February for four years.
“London buyers searching for this month’s fresh to market stock will face the most expensive average asking prices ever seen in the capital,” said Miles Shipside, housing market analyst at Rightmove.
“It will perhaps come as little comfort that this is the most conservative monthly increase recorded in the month of February since 2009.”
Compared to a year ago, property coming to the market is 8.4% (£37,638) more expensive. However, the current average asking price is just 0.7% (£3,181) higher than it was three months ago. The new record in London is £486,890, surpassing the previous high of £483,709 set in November 2012.
Shipside said: “While London has been the out-perform market of the UK and the first to recover from the credit-crunch, there is a barrier to what people can afford to pay and, indeed, are prepared to pay. It remains to be seen whether sellers can achieve their record new price aspirations, which will require buyers to find the extra money and justify to themselves the higher prices being asked.”
While the boroughs of Kensington and Chelsea (+1.7%), Westminster (+3.5%) and Hammersmith and Fulham (+4.5%) continue to attract international buyers and outperform the norm, this month also sees the low to mid-range priced boroughs of Islington (+4.6%), Merton (+4.4%), Hackney (+3.7%) and Croydon (+3.7%) in the top five risers.
Shipside added: “With sellers having a real upper-hand in pricing power in the higher priced and most sought after locations, some buyer demand will ebb away from the most fashionable hotspots and flow into other boroughs. Buyers in the capital have a great track record of looking elsewhere to seek out new areas offering greater value and potential.”