Property prices in Prime Central London continue to fall and rents continue to rise, according to the latest JLL indices. This despite the top-end of the capital’s market being relatively insulated from escalating mortgage costs, as a high proportion of deals involve cash buyers. JLL’s analysis of Land Registry data indicates that, over the last 12 months, 44% of homes in City of Westminster and 49% in Kensington & Chelsea were purchased in cash. This compares to 19% London wide. Average property values in Prime Central London fell for a third consecutive quarter in Q2, according to JLL’s latest index. A 2.1% quarterly decline puts prices 5.9% below where they were at this time last year, and 6.8% lower than they were when prices peaked in the third quarter of 2022. Higher-value homes are proving more resilient to the downward slide, with top-end prices down 0.8% in the 12 months to June 2023 compared with a 6.7% fall in properties priced at under £2mn. Despite less-than-rosy market sentiment, deal numbers actually jumped 28% from Q1’s (admittedly slow) tally. The number of homes available to buy also rose in Q2, with 8.3% more sales listings in PCL than in Q2, 2022 and 9.7% more than at the end of the first quarter this year. JLL says stock on the market is now at its highest level since the end of Q2, 2020.
