Islington Property Market - April 2024

Your most favourite Islington update from the postcodes of N1, N5, and N7 in London. In addition, I cover national statistics and heat maps from Bricks&Logic. Enjoy!

Jacob x

?? AVAILABLE ISLINGTON PROPERTIES

• 1,212 - up +2.8% from 1,179 in March. ?
• Up +6.5% from 1,138 in April 2023. ?

?? NEW LISTINGS

• 307 - up +4.4% from 294 in March. ?
• Up +11.2% from 276 in April 2023. ?

?? SALES AGREED

• 188 - down -1.6% from 191 in March. ?
• Up +4.4% from 180 in April 2023. ?

?? PRICE REDUCTIONS

• 132 - down -2.2% from 135 in March. ?
• Down -5.0% from 139 in April 2023. ?

?? LISTED FOR MORE THAN 12 WEEKS

• 1,177 - up +3.3% from 1,139 in March. ?
• Up +12.3% from 1,048 in April 2023. ?

?? AVERAGE DAILY VIEWS PER PROPERTY

• 78 - down -14.3% from 91 in March. ?
• No change from 78 in April 2023. ?

Islington Market Takeaways

• We see an increase in properties for sale, new listings, and sales agreed, compared to 2023. These categories are also increasing nationally, meaning stability and people returning to the market.
• With more choices of properties for buyers, sellers need to price competitively to sell.
• In Greater London, only 42% of the homes listed for sale were sold within 30 days of marketing, during March this year (OnTheMarket).

Jacob's note...

The property market continues to adjust to higher mortgage rates. However, you must price your property correctly.

Changing your property's price can have adverse effects, as data from Rightmove shows that those reducing their asking price, have a 56% chance of selling. Compare this to those priced correctly at the outset - who don't reduce their price - as they have a 56% chance of selling. This is a 20% difference.

Price correctly, with the right marketing strategy, to be in the 42% of homes selling within the first 30 days, to be in a great position to find the house you want to buy.

The Land Registry has published the average sold prices for properties in February. Below is the data for Islington (Borough) and Inner London, compared annually with February 2023, and monthly with January.

?? ISLINGTON (BOROUGH)

• Borough Average: ￡645,134 | -2.8% (annual) | -2.2% (month) ?
• Detached House: ￡1,784,320 | -2.1% (annual) | -1.7% (month) ?
• Semi-Detached House: ￡1,243,257 | -1.4% (annual) | -1.5% (month) ?
• Terraced House: ￡1,054,396 | -2.9% (annual) | -1.8% (month) ?
• Flat/Maisonette: ￡566,126 | -2.8% (annual) | -2.3% (month) ?

?? INNER LONDON - AVERAGE SOLD PRICES

• Borough Average: ￡569,857 | -7.0% (annual) | -2.8% (month) ?
• Detached House: ￡1,380,120 | -11.4% (annual) | -4.4% (month) ?
• Semi-Detached House: ￡969,840 | -7.1% (annual) | -3.2% (month) ?
• Terraced House: ￡723,388 | -7.6% (annual) | -2.4% (month) ?
• Flat/Maisonette: ￡513,605 | -6.8% (annual) | -2.8% (month) ?

Jacob's note...

Red across the board - house prices were down on average monthly and annually.

The average asking price in London is now ￡696,120 - up +1.4% from March, and up +2.8% from last year.

?? UK AVERAGE ASKING PRICES

• +1.1% (+4,206) from March, to ￡372,324. +1.7% annual change (Rightmove).

?? MORTGAGES

• +32% year-on-year growth in mortgage approvals for home purchases, to Feb. 2024 (Zoopla).
• +61% increase in mortgage repayments for home buyers since 2021.
• ￡23,400 was a London home buyer's annual mortgage repayment during April.

National Market Takeaways

• Property listings changing price is 61.35% more than the 6-year average (Simon Gates: Opening the Gates). This means that sellers and agents are pricing properties too high, while this data suggests that sellers are adjusting their pricing to the market.
• In March 2021 London home buyers paid ￡15,580 on a 70% LTV (loan-to-value) loan, 30-year term, with a 1.8% mortgage rate. Today, with a 4.5% mortgage rate, the repayments have increased by 61% to ￡23,110.
• The typical buyer's buying power is about 25-30% less than with mortgages three years ago (Simon Gates, Opening the Gates).

Jacob's note...

What is vital to understand is that although the Bank of England held the base rate at 5.25% (announced yesterday) for the sixth time in a row, it is still below the average base rate of 5.91%. Right now there is a good, stable market with rising sales volumes nationally. However, prices are not increasing - they are flat.

What is currently happening, is that buyers are returning to the market. This is why we are seeing more sales happening. However, with about 25-30% less buying power, due to a 61% increase in mortgage repayments, buyers have lower budgets and are making careful purchases, meaning that prices are not increasing. This means you must price aggressively and competitively to sell.

The maps below from Bricks&Logic show the 12-month change in house prices in Islington, in Greater London, as well as in England and Wales.

Jacob's note...

Central London is not performing as well as the neighbourhoods at the border of inner and outer London.

Islington's average 2-4.6% increase in sale prices showcases stability. While the average prices for different property types might decrease when comparing certain months (such as shown by the Land Registry data above in this update), Bricks&Logic showcases which areas performed great during the previous 12-month period.

My name is Jacob Littorin and I am your Personal Estate Agent in Islington. My mission is to get you the best price and smoothest process when selling your property and moving to your new home, in what might be the biggest transaction of your life. ??

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*The data from Rightmove shows resale & new build detached houses, semi-detached houses, terraced houses, unspecified houses, flats/apartments, bungalows, and land.