Merton hit the hardest in house price drop (From Your Local Guardian)

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Merton hit the hardest in house price drop

11:58am Tuesday 27th January 2009

Collapsing house prices have hit Merton homeowners harder than residents in any other London borough, according to new figures.

Average prices have plummeted by more than £50,000, or 14.5 per cent in the borough compared to a 10.9 per cent average property devaluation across the capital.

The study by sale price monitors Hometrack showed the average house of a Merton home is now under £300,000, down from a peak value of £345,000.

A report compiled by Capital Economics attributed the fall to the large scale redundancies in the City and warned prices would continue to plummet.

It said: “Even demand for prime and super-prime properties, previously a strong support for London house price growth, will decline further.

“We expect prices in London to fall by more than 30 per cent from their peak.”

But estate agents in the area remain bullish about the state of Merton’s housing market.

Senior sales negotiator David Branch from SW19 Estate Agents said: “We’re still selling houses and the neighbouring places like Croydon have suffered from a much larger drop in prices.

“This is still a highly desirable part of London to live in and its great transport links is stopping prices from falling excessively.”