London house prices down 13.3%

The Chesterton House Price Poll of Polls, which is conducted in conjunction with the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR), shows that in December, house prices in England and Wales averaged a year-on-year decline of 12.8%.

Prices fell in all regions of the UK save Scotland where marginal growth was recorded.

The fall is greater than average in London where property values were down 13.3% on the year in December, according to Chesterton and the CEBR.

The monthly decline across England and Wales stood at 1.6%, taking the average value of a residential property to £171,348 and marking the sixteenth successive month of house price falls.

Properties in the bottom 20% of the market have been hit hardest with values down 13.8% compared to December 2007.

The steeper than average decline in London prices comes alongside predictions that the capital will bear the brunt of the recession because of its dependence on the City and business services.

Financial services firms in the City and Canary Wharf have already made thousands of staff redundant since September, when the credit crisis worsened with the collapse of Lehman Brothers and large scale job losses are expected to continue throughout 2009 and into 2010.

Already this week, Bank of America, which has acquired investment bank Merrill Lynch, is reported to be cutting 30% of its London workforce, or around 1,900 jobs.

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