Kensington and Chelsea is the only London borough where house prices have taken a dip since last year.
The Royal Borough has had a 3.7 per cent reduction in the average cost of a house compared to last year, despite November’s average still being England and Wales’s highest average prices.
The decline will be heralded as a breath of fresh air for buyers who have seen prices escalating through the roof year after year and brings into question whether the ceiling has finally been hit but also highlights worries over Labour’s mansion tax and uncertainty about the outcome of May’s general election.
Figures from property website Rightmove’s latest monthly index show property in Kensington and Chelsea fell from an average of £2,298,155 in November 2013 to £2,212,845 this year.
Below was Westminster where there has been an 11 per cent rise to £1,666,528 from £1,501,439 and in Hammersmith and Fulham there has been an 8.5 per cent rise to £1,146,788 from £1,056,731 in November 2013.
A Kensington estate agent said both buyers and sellers are being wary now as there is no indication of who will win the next general election.
She said: “To be honest I’m quite surprised because we’re still very busy. However both buyers and sellers are being more attentive as to what happens in the general election whereas before they wouldn’t take much notice of who is in Government.
“First time buyers are being pushed out back onto the rental market because of the prices which means there are less sales.”
London saw an overall annual rise of 6.9 per cent and for the first time ever the average price of property coming to the capital’s market has broken the £600,000 barrier to a new high of £601,180 which still remains a far cry from Kensington and Chelsea’s £2 million and up average.
Meanwhile, Londoners are taking longer to sell their homes now than in June when it took just 41 days - in October it took an average of 54 days.
