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\t\tNational house prices jumped but London lags behind\t<\/p>\n\t\t\tWednesday 22 April 2026 1:24 pm
\n\t\t\t\t\t\u00a0|\u00a0\u00a0Updated:\u00a0<\/p>\n
\t\t\tWednesday 22 April 2026 1:25 pm\n\t<\/p>\n
\t\tNational house prices jumped but London lags behind\t<\/p>\n
House prices in London have fallen for the seventh consecutive month, with the drop widening to more than three per cent.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The average house price in the capital tumbled 3.3 per cent to \u00a3542,000 in the year to February, compared to a year-on-year drop of 1.9 per cent in the previous month, according to<\/a> the Office of National Statistics (ONS).<\/p>\n Overall UK house prices jumped again by 0.9 per cent to \u00a3290,000, as the national picture continues to recover while the capital languishes behind.<\/p>\n London is joined by the South East and the South West in seeing house price drops in the year to February, of 0.9 and 0.6 per cent.\u00a0<\/p>\n Yorkshire and the Humber saw the biggest rise in house prices, up 3.9 per cent.\u00a0<\/p>\n \t\tIran war inflation fears spook buyers<\/p>\n While house prices are growing on average, these gains are slow compared to historical levels, as fears that the Iran war will spike inflation dampen buyer demand.<\/p>\n Inflation jumped<\/a> to 3.3 per cent in March, in what could be the start of a long climb in inflation due to the global fuel price surge caused by the conflict in the Middle East.\u00a0<\/p>\n Though the Bank of England had at the start of the year been expected to cut interest rates, the market is now bracing for the potential of multiple interest rate hikes this year.<\/p>\n London tax regime hits housing market<\/p>\n Stacy Eden, an analyst at audit firm RSM, said: \u201cWith UK economic growth expected to be under 1 per cent for 2026, and slowing wage growth being eaten away by inflation, it is unsurprising that buyer demand is waning, and concerns over the interest rate outlook are rising.\u201d<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\tRead more<\/p>\n \t\t\tHouse prices drop as Iran war shakes property market<\/a><\/p>\n Eden said London\u2019s house prices are falling because the capital is particularly exposed to stamp duty, due to the typically high house prices in the city.\u00a0<\/p>\n London\u2019s house market is also more exposed to tax and regulation policy \u2013 like the end to the non-dom regime \u2013 which might be deferring overseas residents or property investors, Eden said.<\/p>\n Barret Kupelian, chief economist at consultancy PwC, said: \u201cThe question now is not whether the market softens, but by how much.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe Autumn Budget uncertainty of last year may be behind us, but events in the Middle East have replaced it with a fresh fog.\u201d<\/p>\n London luxury property market slumps<\/p>\n The UK\u2019s housing market is \u201cno longer moving as one country, but as two,\u201d because of the stark difference between house prices in the south and the rest of the country, Kupelian said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Prices at the prime end of the London property market appear especially hard hit.<\/p>\n