London property prices 'buck the trend'
27th Apr 2012
Central London property is currently "bucking the trend" when it comes to residential house prices, one expert has noted.
Naomi Heaton, chief executive at London Central Portfolio (LCP), explained that prime London central consists of just two of the 33 boroughs which make up Greater London, the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and the City of Westminster.
It is only six square miles, centred on Hyde Park, with little more than 200,000 households, and so is a "scarce resource", which is appealing to a global marketplace.
Its performance also bears little resemblance to the rest of the country, she explained.
"The key factors determining the performance of the UK housing market are domestic - the level of employment, earnings and availability of credit, which are all under pressure in the economic environment currently prevailing in the UK," Ms Heaton noted.
Her comments came after Knight Frank/Markit's House Price Sentiment Index recently signalled a further drop in house prices during April.
"A perceived reduction in home values was reported by 17 per cent of households, compared with around eight per cent indicating a rise."
The index now stands at 45.4, which is down from March's 20-month high of 46.6,with lower prices recorded in ten out of 11 regions and only London bucking the trend.
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