NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH
CENTRAL LONDON
This is home to all of London’s traditional prime neighbourhoods, including salubrious haunts such as Belgravia, Chelsea, Kensington, Knightsbridge, Marylebone and Mayfair, as well as Notting Hill. Prices here have fallen by 3.6 per cent in local currency terms during the past year, according to Savills, suggesting there may be some opportunities to buy at relatively attractive prices, though Mayfair is still the most expensive area in the capital, with prime property going for more than £2,000 per square foot on average.
NORTH-WEST LONDON
Lying just to the north of Marylebone, the core prime neighbourhoods are the north-west districts of St John’s Wood, Maida Vale, Primrose Hill and Hampstead. Prices here have fallen by more than in any other areas, down 3.7 per cent, though there are some outliers— Hampstead, for example, has bucked the overall trend and has actually seen prices rise recently.
NORTH AND EAST LONDON
This area comprises well-established Islington, the more up-and-coming neighbourhoods of Shoreditch and Wapping, and the area around the secondary financial district of Canary Wharf. Prices here have fallen by 2 per cent during the past year.
SOUTH-WEST LONDON
Prices have dropped less dramatically the further you get from prime central London, with south-west London the only area that has actually seen prices grow during the past year, albeit by just 0.7 per cent, driven by areas such as leafy Richmond. Other neighbourhoods in this quarter of the city include Wimbledon, Putney, Barnes, Clapham and Battersea, home to the Malaysian funded conversion of Battersea Power Station into luxury apartments that have proved popular with Asian buyers.