W5 and W13 prices lag behind other areas of London

It's a lack of available mortgages not lack of demand which is causing the slowdown in the housing market according to a leading local estate agent.

Latest figures from the Land Registry show the number of properties changing hands in W5 and W13 over the last three years has dipped substantially. Total sales are down 42 per cent in W5 and 41 per cent in W13.

However the President of Ealing Chamber of Commerce and Managing Director of Northfields Estate Agents, Richard Palfreeman, remains confident that locally sales will remain steady.

He says :''With the government and HSBC forecasting the economy to grow by 1.4% next year, the likelihood of a double dip recession is rescinding."

The average price of property in W5 is now £448,847 which is up in the quarter by 7.3% but over the last three years has risen by just 0.4%.

W13 had been performing slightly better than W5 but from July to September property prices have averaged out slightly lower at £ 414,455 nevertheless that it 5.7% higher than three years ago.

UK house prices may be down overall but buyers are reluctant to part with their money in the lead-up to Christmas.

According to the Rightmove House Price Index new sellers cut their asking prices by 3.2% in November – the largest decline seen since December 2007. The index said there was now an "unseasonably high number" of unsold properties on the market amid a dearth of first-time buyers and buy-to-let investors.

In London prices were down by just 0.4% in November and remain 3.5% higher than a year ago, compared with the national average of 1.3%. Miles Shipside from Rightmove said : "London's limited property supply and domestic as well as international demand are helping to insulate its property prices from some of the downward pressures being experienced elsewhere in the country."

Mr Palfreeman agrees that London house sales will not be hit as hard as other areas of the country, and adds, " There is still demand in buying property in West London, with its good transport links and schools, but people are constrained by the lack of available finance. The real issue is not a lack of demand but the availability of mortgages."

Properties Sold in the W5 Area in August 2010

Properties Sold in the W13 Area in August 2010

Source: Land Registry

Data in this report is subject to crown copyright protection.

January 19, 2011