The average asking price of property in St Albans dropped by 3.6% or £21,591 compared to this time last year, which means the current average asking price has fallen to £584,072 from £605,663.
The overall drop in asking prices is being put down to sellers being more realistic with their pricing and looking to benefit prior to the impending mortgage interest rate rises later in 2018.
This is good news for those looking to buy in the usually active spring/summer this year, particularly for those at the entry level of the market where the Chancellors waiving of Stamp Duty for First Time Buyers up to £300,000 means further savings.
If we look at asking prices between now and 12 months ago by property type we see the following:
Average asking prices today versus 12 months ago | ||
Property type | 12 mths ago | Today |
Detached | £954,734 | £899,230 |
Semi detached | £625,655 | £640,318 |
Terraced | £526,874 | £577,098 |
Apartments | £373,973 | £352,758 |
When we look at the percentages, the picture becomes a little clearer that most downward pressure is in the detached property type, with terraced property rising.
% change in average asking prices over last 12 months | |
Detached | -5.80% |
Semi detached | 2.30% |
Terraced | 9.50% |
Apartments | -5.70% |
Overall average | -3.60% |
Now, I must stress this overall drop in the asking prices of St Albans property doesn’t necessarily mean the value of St Albans property is going down by the same amount.
Time will tell as to whether this is a correction of a period of over enthusiastic house pricing in Q1 2018 following a poor Q4 2017, or a sign that values are edging away. To put things into context we can only view these prices in conjunction with both the values achieved and the length of time it takes to sell the property which will only become clearer months down the line.
