•       London’s prime property now 161% (£708,000) more expensive than a typical London home
•       Gap between top and middle of the market considerably wider in London than rest of UK

Growth in the price of London’s prime properties has left a £708,382 gap between the asking price of top end properties and the average London home, according to the latest Prime Index from PrimeLocation.com (www.PrimeLocation.com).

The monthly index, which tracks the top quarter of the property market by value, reveals that prime property asking prices in the Capital now average £1,149,551 – 161% more than the asking price of an average London home, which is currently £441,169.

The prime property gap for the UK as a whole, while significant, is considerably less. Average UK prime prices currently stand at £472,340, some £252,397 or 115% higher than the typical UK home which now commands an asking price of £219,943.

The average asking price of London’s prime properties have risen 4.75% or £51, 907 over the past 12 months – significantly more than the 0.8% year-on-year growth that the UK prime market has experienced.

Nigel Lewis, property analyst at PrimeLocation.com said: “The distribution of property wealth in the Capital is becoming increasingly uneven, as the prices of London’s most expensive properties continue to grow. The asking price of the average London home has performed well this year, growing consecutively every month, but this is no match for London’s prime property market, where prices are almost £10,000 higher than they were this time last year.”

Average asking prices for London’s prime platinum properties (the top 10% of the market) are up 3.22% on last year at £1,729,894. This is 292%, or £1,288,725 higher than the typical London home. Prime platinum property for the UK as a whole carries an asking price of £654,746, which is around 198% or £434,803 more than the asking price of an average UK home.

The prime property gap in London appears to be gradually widening, rising from £673, 523 in September 2009 to £708,382 this month – a trend that has also been repeated in the UK market.

Nigel Lewis continued: “London’s prime property market operates very differently to the overall UK market and is far less sensitive to the issues facing the UK economy due to high levels of foreign investment. The London prime property market is viewed by many investors as a safe investment opportunity, particularly those from overseas who also stand to benefit from a weaker pound.

In the same way that the divide between rich and poor is greater in London than in the UK overall, the disparity of the Capital’s property wealth is far more extreme than the UK’s, and this is definitely a trend that looks set to continue.”
The Prime Property Gap – UK and London
Prime Asking Prices – London    Average Asking Prices – London  Prime Price Gap – London        %
01-Sep-11       £1,149,551      £441,169        £708,382        161%
01-Sep-10       £1,097,466      £427,773        £669,693        157%
01-Sep-09       £1,105,510      £431,987        £673,523        156%
Prime Asking Prices – UK        Average Asking Prices – UK      Prime Price Gap – UK    %
01-Sep-11       £472,340        £219,943        £252,397        115%
01-Sep-10       £454,022        £218,189        £235,834        108%
01-Sep-09       £458,189        £218,510        £239,680        110%
Prime Platinum Asking Prices – London   Average Asking Prices – London  Prime Platinum Price Gap – London       %
01-Sep-11       £1,729,894      £441,169        £1,288,725      292%
01-Sep-10       £1,675,960      £427,773        £1,248,187      292%
01-Sep-09       £1,652,882      £431,987        £1,220,895      283%
Prime Platinum Asking Prices – UK       Average Asking Prices – UK      Prime Platinum Price Gap – UK   %
01-Sep-11       £654,746        £219,943        £434,803        198%
01-Sep-10       £634,479        £218,189        £416,290        191%
01-Sep-09       £629,099        £218,510        £410,589        188%
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Source: PrimeLocation.com, October 2011

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Notes to Editors
About the Prime Index
The monthly PrimeLocation.com Prime Index offers a unique, independent and robust view of the UK’s prime property marketplace, including prices and stock levels. For the first time, the index provides authoritative data for all regions of the country.
It segments the upper end of the market as follows:
• Prime – incorporating the top 25% of all UK property by value
• Prime Platinum – incorporating the top 10% of all UK property by value

The percentile approach enables the two prime tiers to track the overall market prices, stock and remain relative to local market forces.

About PrimeLocation.com
PrimeLocation.com is the UK’s principal portal for leading estate agency firms, representing 12,600 branches including major national agencies such as Savills, Knight Frank and Hamptons International. It lists just under a million properties to rent or buy in the UK and overseas and has over 5.2m visits a month*.  PrimeLocation.com is part of the Digital Property Group, a division of A&N Media.

*Source: Cognesia, September 2011.
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