A look at house prices along the route of this Sunday?s London Marathon reveals some impressive price rises over the past decade, although some areas have come up more than others.
The mortgage lender Nationwide studied house price patterns along the main areas the route the runners pass through, in chronological order. At the race?s starting point, in Greenwich, the research found prices rising by as much as £100 per day, as the average house gained in value there by £48,000 over the past year.
‘Greenwich is one of five host boroughs for the 2012 London Olympics, and for more than a decade, the local council has orchestrated one of the largest regeneration programmes in the UK,’ Nationwide says, making it a great place to invest in property.
From Greenwich to Lewisham house prices descend along with the gradient: Lewisham is the cheapest borough of the five on the route, although not the cheapest in London. Prices here easily outstrip those in Bromley, Barking Dagenham, and Havering. ‘Rates of house price growth here are impressive, with an increase of 283% since 1997 as the area also benefited from investment in recent years,’ says the report.
Further west, house prices creep further up. In Southwark, prices are, on average, £72,519 more expensive than in Lewisham, and rising at a rate of £157 per day, and the rate of inflation is tied equal to that of Lewisham, at 283%. These large increases are due to extensive regeneration in the past decade, and a tube station on the Jubilee line, both of which have totally changed the face of the borough.
Across the river in Tower Hamlets, Nationwide found prices continuing their upward trend, with the second highest average price of the five. An increase of £53,242 year-on-year may seem modest, but Tower Hamlets is undeniably an area where spectacular development has taken place. The business community is continuing to grow, and increased development is following. The Olympics is also expected to impact on this area, bringing more jobs, more homes and better transport to this borough which contains some of the most deprived parts of London.
As the runners near the finish line in Westminster, they also approach some of the most exclusive postcodes in the country. Prices here have risen by more than £112,000 in the past year alone, which amounts to almost £307 per day.
Encompassing Knightsbridge, Belgravia and Mayfair, Westminster is home to the majority of London’s luxury hotels and prime shopping areas, and ongoing are likely to guarantee prosperity here for the future.
Nationwide’s Chief economist, Fionnuala Earley, said: ‘The strength of London’s economy is a major factor behind the buoyancy of its housing market. Development of infrastructure and the anticipated gains of regeneration resulting from investment for the Olympic Games have helped to inject further confidence in the market.
‘The outlook for the London housing market still looks rosy given the economic conditions it faces. A lack of housing supply is also a factor that will support price growth. However, London is still not immune from rising interest rates, and deteriorating affordability. We would expect the rate of house price inflation in London to cool from the current level of 14.3%, but to remain robust until the end of 2007.’
