Fulham House Prices Vulnerable To Eurobanker Flight


No significant falls in the area during pandemic but local agents wary


House on Swift Street went for £3,500,000. Picture: Right Move

The latest price information for property sales in the Fulham area shows that the market has remained stable during the pandemic but some local agents are sounding a note of caution.

There have been 63 sales recorded so far this year in the SW6 postcode area at an average price of £1,064,773. This is a slight fall on the same period in 2020. Volumes are well down on the previous quarter but there will be more sales to be processed for this period so changes in turnover from the end of the year are difficult to assess.

The top priced sale so far in 2021 was of a double fronted terraced house in Swift Street which changed hands for £3,500,000 having previously been sold for £3,200,000 in 2013.

Another terraced house on Winchendon Road went for £2,850,000 and a detached house on Ellerby Street went for £3,400,000.

One agent based in the area said, "Values are holding up well because there remains a shortage of supply particularly for large family houses. However, there are a few straws in the wind that suggests this will change.

"So far this year we have had an increase in the number of enquiries from Europeans particularly the French who are employed in the financial sector. Negotiations with the EU over services trade will be key and a bad outcome will hit local property prices disproportionately. These eurobankers are generally planning to repatriate in 2021 but the current situation with Covid is making moves impossible to undertake so they are being postponed. However, once this obstacle is removed it looks like there will be a short term glut in supply with some really splendid properties coming to the market.

"Under normal circumstances there would be sufficient demand to ignore this but, if the government starts to hint about possible punitive taxation of larger properties and more aggressive inheritance tax rules then we might encounter a bit of an air pocket.

"It also is going to be a bit of a challenging time for rental yields as quite a significant number of larger homes will be vacated when restrictions are relaxed and the corporate let market is very soft and likely to remain so."

There was relief among local agents about the extension of the stamp duty holiday earlier this year but concern that it is unlikely to be carried forward indefinitely which will present a challenge to the market.

Fulham Property Prices (January - March 2021)
Area Detached Sales Semi-det Sales Terraced Sales Flat/
mais
Sales Overall ave Total sales
SW6 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 849750 4 849750 4
SW6 2 0 0 0 0 1328000 5 624300 10 858867 15
SW6 3 0 0 0 0 1458500 6 0 0 1458500 6
SW6 4 0 0 1385000 1 1731200 5 671990 5 1218268 11
SW6 5 0 0 0 0 2065900 5 558437 8 1138231 13
SW6 6 3400000 1 0 0 1048750 2 767445 5 1166841 8
SW6 7 0 0 0 0 1038750 2 609375 4 752500 6
Total 3400000 1 1385000 1 1542060 25 659560 36 1064773 63
Change over quarter - - -58.5% -80.0% -1.4% -66.7% -15.7% -74.3% -3.8% -71.4%
Change over year - - -45.3% -66.7% -7.9% -60.9% -24.7% -80.1% -3.9% -74.8%
Change over three years -52.0% -66.7% 0.6% -46.8% -34.1% -73.9% -8.5% -66.5%
Change over five years - - - - -17.1% -70.6% -18.8% -84.9% -3.8% -80.8%
Change over ten years - - -33.8% -80.0% 23.8% -75.0% 55.7% -76.6% 37.7% -75.7%

Source: Land Registry

Fulham property

Nationally the property market seems to have experienced a bounce in April after the announcement of the stamp duty holiday extension reaching a new record high average price of £238,831.

Commenting on the figures, Robert Gardner, Nationwide's Chief Economist, said, “Annual house price growth accelerated to 7.1% in April, only slightly below the peak of 7.3% recorded in December and up from 5.7% in March. In month-on-month terms, house prices rose by 2.1% in April, after taking account of seasonal effects, the biggest month rise since February 2004.

“Just as expectations of the end of the stamp duty holiday led to a slowdown in house price growth in March, so the extension of the stamp duty holiday in the Budget prompted
a reacceleration in April.

“However, our research suggests that while the stamp duty holiday is impacting the timing of housing transactions, for most people it is not the key motivating factor prompting them to move in the first place. For example, amongst homeowners surveyed at the end of April
that were either moving home or considering a move, three quarters said this would have been the case even if the stamp duty holiday had not been extended."

Updates on the local property market are regularly published in the Fulham newsletter.

 

May 3, 2021