Current market conditions would still take London nearly three years to lose top dog property market status

Independent London estate agent, Benham and Reeves, has looked at the decline of the London market since the Brexit vote in relation to other regional cities that have seen more buoyant price growth, to see if London really is on its knees, or if this has been exaggerated.

Benham and Reeves looked at the month by month price change since June 2016 across the London market, as well as more than 20 other major UK cities. Working on a worst-case scenario, whereby Brexit inspired market uncertainty persists for the long-term, Benham and Reeves projected previous monthly market movements forward from today’s average house price to see at which point London would be overtaken as the UK’s most expensive city to buy a property.

The research shows that even with current market instability, it would take two years and 10 months before London saw the average house price slip below the closest competition – Oxford. London’s current average house price is £468,120 while in Oxford, property costs an average of £384,433. So it would take another 34 months before Oxford overtakes London with an average house price of £468,766 to London’s average of £465,753.

The next closest is Cambridge, although this wouldn’t happen until February 2023, with Edinburgh the next contender, overtaking London with an average house price of £457,465 by April 2027. Manchester and Bournemouth are also in contention overtaking London’s property market price by 2034.

The slowest would be Newcastle where growth since the vote wouldn’t see the city overtake London until after 2070. With the market in Aberdeen suffering greatly since the vote, it’s unlikely the city would ever overtake London despite market uncertainty hurting the capital.

Director of Benham and Reeves, Marc von Grundherr, commented:

“London is and has always been the jewel in the crown of the UK property market and while these projections predict at what point in the future this might cease to be the case, the point is that it is very unlikely such an event will ever take place.

Yes, we’ve seen market uncertainty hurt the London house price growth to some extent while other regional cities have performed far better. However, what we are demonstrating here is that despite this, despite all that has been thrown at it, it would still take nearly three more years of current market conditions before London would slip from property pole position.

This really does highlight the resilience of the London market and the reality, in any case, is that a bounce back to previous health is a far surer bet than the likes of Oxford or Cambridge becoming the new pinnacle of UK homeownership.”

Projection Rankings

Rank
Location
Year Avg H.P reaches/surpasses London based on trends since Brexit vote.
1
Oxford
2022
2
Cambridge
2023
3
Edinburgh
2027
4
Manchester
2034
5
Bournemouth
2034
6
Bristol
2034
7
Newport
2034
8
Birmingham
2035
9
Portsmouth
2039
10
Cardiff
2039
11
Nottingham
2040
12
Derry City and Strabane
2040
13
Leeds
2041
14
Leicester
2042
15
Glasgow
2043
16
Sheffield
2050
17
Liverpool
2053
18
Southampton
2053
19
Swansea
2053
20
Lisburn and Castlereagh
2054
21
Plymouth
2056
22
Belfast
2062
23
Newcastle
post-2070
24
Aberdeen
No intersect

Example of projections methodology

Key
Current market data from the Land Registry between the EU Referendum and now – June 2016 to March 2019.
Projected price changes using the monthly change from current market data applied to the current average house price to ascertain potential market movement.
The point at which London is overtaken by Oxford as the most expensive city in the UK.
Date
London
Monthly Change
Oxford
Monthly Change
01/06/16
£468,120
£384,433
01/07/16
£475,530
1.58%
£402,308
4.65%
01/08/16
£471,957
-0.75%
£419,571
4.29%
01/09/16
£471,767
-0.04%
£419,363
-0.05%
01/10/16
£471,008
-0.16%
£416,745
-0.62%
01/11/16
£470,854
-0.03%
£413,473
-0.79%
01/12/16
£472,374
0.32%
£409,499
-0.96%
01/01/17
£475,619
0.69%
£412,321
0.69%
01/02/17
£476,717
0.23%
£405,888
-1.56%
01/03/17
£475,442
-0.27%
£410,782
1.21%
01/04/17
£479,790
0.91%
£407,918
-0.70%
01/05/17
£480,902
0.23%
£412,860
1.21%
01/06/17
£480,152
-0.16%
£411,177
-0.41%
01/07/17
£488,527
1.74%
£413,515
0.57%
01/08/17
£487,085
-0.30%
£415,529
0.49%
01/09/17
£483,833
-0.67%
£419,693
1.00%
01/10/17
£481,762
-0.43%
£420,813
0.27%
01/11/17
£476,290
-1.14%
£417,259
-0.84%
01/12/17
£476,848
0.12%
£409,123
-1.95%
01/01/18
£479,772
0.61%
£395,731
-3.27%
01/02/18
£477,860
-0.40%
£396,161
0.11%
01/03/18
£472,357
-1.15%
£396,482
0.08%
01/04/18
£476,876
0.96%
£399,939
0.87%
01/05/18
£478,355
0.31%
£403,759
0.96%
01/06/18
£480,012
0.35%
£412,255
2.10%
01/07/18
£485,001
1.04%
£414,622
0.57%
01/08/18
£479,991
-1.03%
£425,603
2.65%
01/09/18
£476,631
-0.70%
£426,569
0.23%
01/10/18
£480,321
0.77%
£422,624
-0.92%
01/11/18
£474,258
-1.26%
£408,781
-3.28%
01/12/18
£473,802
-0.10%
£406,682
-0.51%
01/01/19
£471,336
-0.52%
£412,824
1.51%
01/02/19
£464,998
-1.34%
£411,835
-0.24%
01/03/19
£463,283
-0.37%
£414,972
0.76%
01/04/19
£470,616
1.58%
£434,268
4.65%
01/05/19
£467,081
-0.75%
£452,902
4.29%
01/06/19
£466,892
-0.04%
£452,677
-0.05%
01/07/19
£466,142
-0.16%
£449,851
-0.62%
01/08/19
£465,989
-0.03%
£446,319
-0.79%
01/09/19
£467,493
0.32%
£442,030
-0.96%
01/10/19
£470,705
0.69%
£445,076
0.69%
01/11/19
£471,791
0.23%
£438,132
-1.56%
01/12/19
£470,529
-0.27%
£443,414
1.21%
01/01/20
£474,833
0.91%
£440,324
-0.70%
01/02/20
£475,933
0.23%
£445,658
1.21%
01/03/20
£475,191
-0.16%
£443,841
-0.41%
01/04/20
£483,479
1.74%
£446,364
0.57%
01/05/20
£482,052
-0.30%
£448,539
0.49%
01/06/20
£478,833
-0.67%
£453,033
1.00%
01/07/20
£476,784
-0.43%
£454,243
0.27%
01/08/20
£471,369
-1.14%
£450,406
-0.84%
01/09/20
£471,921
0.12%
£441,623
-1.95%
01/10/20
£474,815
0.61%
£427,168
-3.27%
01/11/20
£472,922
-0.40%
£427,633
0.11%
01/12/20
£467,476
-1.15%
£427,978
0.08%
01/01/21
£471,948
0.96%
£431,711
0.87%
01/02/21
£473,412
0.31%
£435,834
0.96%
01/03/21
£475,052
0.35%
£445,004
2.10%
01/04/21
£479,990
1.04%
£447,560
0.57%
01/05/21
£475,032
-1.03%
£459,413
2.65%
01/06/21
£471,706
-0.70%
£460,456
0.23%
01/07/21
£475,358
0.77%
£456,197
-0.92%
01/08/21
£469,358
-1.26%
£441,255
-3.28%
01/09/21
£468,906
-0.10%
£438,988
-0.51%
01/10/21
£466,466
-0.52%
£445,619
1.51%
01/11/21
£460,193
-1.34%
£444,551
-0.24%
01/12/21
£458,496
-0.37%
£447,938
0.76%
01/01/22
£465,753
1.58%
£468,766
4.65%

 

Properganda PR

National and local media coverage for property businesses. Journo quotes delivered in minutes.

You May Also Enjoy

Letting Agent Talk

Landlords and tenants advised to work together to get through extreme heatwaves

With some areas set to be hotter than Portugal this week, lettings and estate agents across the UK are issuing advice to protect properties ahead of extreme weather Prolonged periods of hot weather across the UK are placing additional pressure on homes, from overheating and poor ventilation to damage caused by extreme temperatures. Today, lettings…
Read More
Estate Agent Talk

Nearly half of UK home listings fail to sell

A London estate agent has warned that thousands of homeowners across the UK are pricing themselves out of the market by setting asking prices that no longer reflect what buyers are willing to pay. The warning comes after new analysis by Zoopla, covering more than two million property listings between 2023 and 2026, found that…
Read More
Rightmove logo
Breaking News

Lowest number of new build developments coming to market since 2017

New analysis from the UK’s largest property platform Rightmove reveals that the number of new build housing developments coming to market is at its lowest level since January 2017 The figures are despite the government’s target to build 1.5 million homes over the course of this parliament Higher mortgage rates continue to set a challenging…
Read More
Estate Agent Talk

What Every Estate Agent Should Tell Clients Before Moving Day

For most estate agents, the job is done once contracts are exchanged, completion takes place, and the keys are handed over. For your client, however, that’s when one of the biggest challenges begins. Moving day has the power to turn months of excitement into an incredibly stressful experience, or a smooth finish to what has…
Read More
Breaking News

Breaking Property News 9/7/26

Daily bite-sized proptech and property news in partnership with Proptech-X.   PropTech is evolving but WhatsApp is still winning the Property transaction battle A home-moving process that a decade of PropTech failed to fix   Thought leadership by Olivier Jauniaux Founder of NestLink There are a particular series of messages, somewhere in every property chain, that decides whether…
Read More
Breaking News

Heatwaves haven’t diminished love for south-facing gardens

The latest research from Yopa reveals that despite 81% of people saying they have been avoiding their garden during the recent heatwaves, south-facing gardens continue to be the preferred orientation of choice for UK homeowners, attracting house price premiums of over £20,000 on average. However, the insight from Yopa also suggests that should heatwaves become…
Read More