Big surge in London prices

The Land Registry's numbers may be slow to arrive, but they are the most accurate. When they say that prices shot up in November, it's because they really did.

The average London home price has pushed past £500,000 for the first time, with an extraordinary jump of 4% in November alone. That's an increase of over £20,000 in just four weeks.

It is the biggest monthly increase since 2000, taking the annual figure to 9.7%.

According to estate agents, the rise has been fuelled by pent up demand since the Brexit vote, increased activity caused by the 'race for space' and the rush to beat the stamp duty deadline.
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Considering England was in national lockdown for most of November, and a growing number of people are looking to move away from big cities in favour of more space, the resilience of the capital's property market is staggering.

Despite the extraordinary challenges of the pandemic and the shift to remote working, London is neither down nor out.

​George Banks, Radstock Property

Earlier fears of a price slump after the 31st March deadline appear to be receding. Some agents now believe that the market's momentum will see it through for the rest of the year.
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Our members all reported unprecedented levels of activity during the closing stages of 2020. The usual seasonal slowdown simply did not materialise.
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Looking into 2021 as a whole, the mass vaccination roll-out should bolster sentiment in spite of all the economic uncertainty and may prevent the fall in values many were expecting.

​Iain McKenzie, The Guild of Property Professionals

The most significant gains were in Kensington and Chelsea at 28%, though those numbers can be distorted by a small number of large purchases. Also high on the list are Brent at 23% and Merton at 14%. A study carried out a month earlier had Islington at the top, so the gains appear to be widespread.

It seems that the exodus to the commuter towns has accelerated the normal rotation of city centre populations.