Average London house prices cross £300,000 mark

Average London house prices cross £300,000 mark

	Published : Mon, 20 Mar 2006 11:35 By : Phil Bateman Print this Story

LONDON: The average price of property in London has exceeded 300,000 pounds for the first time, according to property website Rightmove. This means that a house in London is beyond the reach of first time buyers and those who somehow propose to buy a house will have to borrow five times their salaries.

Rightmove's commercial director Miles Shipside said first time buyers in London have now to look outside London to be able to afford their first home.

Rightmove said at 300,719 pounds, the average asking price increased by 1.7 per cent for the third consecutive month to make an annual rate of 5.8 per cent. Prices in London were 50 per cent higher than the average for the rest of the country.

The website said in London the increase has not been uniform in all the areas. In the five boroughs that attract most buyers -- Hackney, Wandsworth, Islington, Bromley and Hounslow -- prices are up between 3 per cent and 5.4 per cent in March compared to February.

Prices, however, fell in Croydon, Brent and Kensington and Chelsea. In the upmarket Kensington and Chelsea areas prices fell 8.3 per cent on a year ago, but the average price of 661,898 pounds prevailing there is the highest in London. The lowest average prices are in Barking & Dagenham -- 196,688.

Average asking price across the country grew 4.3 per cent compared with a year ago to 203,399 pounds.

Halifax had said earlier this month that house prices have gone up 5.5 per cent in the three months to February over a year ago.

Meanwhile, stamp duty is becoming a major problem as only 1.8 per cent of properties coming on to the market in London are priced below the 120,000 pounds threshold for the tax, which starts at 1 per cent of the property's value. There have been suggestions for revision in the threshold limits and total exemption from payment of the duty by first-time buyers.