London homes sitting longer on market

Unrealistic expectations from homeowners putting their property on the market are causing unsold stock to pileup in London estate agent in-trays.

According to the latest research from online vendor Rightmove.co.uk, it now takes 85 days to sell a home in the capital, up from 78 in June.

This has largely been caused by sellers failing to acknowledge the current climate in the market – pricing property out of reach of potential buyers.

"Londoners have failed to get as much of a boost from the spring market this year," said Miles Shipside, commercial director of RightMove.

"This is likely to be a reflection of fewer new sellers being enticed onto the market in the capital in the current tough trading conditions."

However, despite the slowdown, property prices in London have maintained positive levels of growth – in contrast to the rest of the UK.

While RightMove finds prices have fallen by two per cent across England and Wales over the last year, growth remains at 1.4 per cent in London.

This includes a 0.3 per cent rise in July – with the capital the only region of England and Wales to record growth.

This has pushed the average asking price in London up through the £400,000 barrier again, illustrating how the majority of sellers are still willing and able to test the market at a higher figure in spite of the low level of sales activity.

There are again signs that inner London properties are remaining more resilient on price than some of the outer London boroughs.

The annual rate of increase in Westminster still stands at 17.5 per cent, while Islington is the only other borough still in double figures at 11.3 per cent.

Over the last month Tower Hamlets has been the best performing borough, with average prices up 4.1 per cent to an average of £429,514.

In contrast Kingston-on-Thames has fallen two per cent over the same period, down to £514,371.

Chris O'Toole