House prices in Haringey increased by almost a third this year, with average asking prices in the borough up £136,817, the biggest percentage increase in London.
Asking prices in the borough saw only a 1 per cent increase, to £608,039, over the past month, but were up 29 pc from January 2014, when the average asking price was £471,222, according to the latest Rightmove House Price Index.
The report found that most of the higher annual rises were in north and east London boroughs as buyers seek convenient locations at more affordable prices.
Miles Shipside, Rightmove director and housing market analyst said: “Inner London’s prime was the darling of international buyers and the resultant price surge spilled out to other inner boroughs before rippling out to outer ones, the South East region and beyond.
“London as a whole has seen average annual increases drop from about 20 pc to just under 13 pc but as we go into 2015 several boroughs are still well over 20 pc more expensive than a year ago.
“With population in the capital forecast to continue growing, the scarcity of accommodation and the search for relative value close to employment keeps underpinning and inflating prices.”
Meanwhile, house prices in Camden have seen some of the biggest drops in London this month, falling 2.3 pc to £968,926, which is 1.3 pc lower than this time last year.
In apparent contradiction to these figures, Camden agents reported a very busy start to the year so far.
Gary Lazarus, negotiator at Camden Bus, which specialises in properties up to around £1 million in Camden Town, said: “On the 250 roads that we cover, our evidence would contradict that. We’ve had a very good start to the year. In fact, we just need more stock.
“We sold three properties last week alone, and two of them went for their asking price.
“I can only imagine that there were some of the agents who were over-valuing properties towards the end of last year.”
However, at the top end of the market, a slightly different picture emerged.
Frank Townsend, director at Savills in Hampstead, said: “I think this figure is just a blip. Demand is very healthy at those core market levels between £800,000 and £1.5 million. We’ve got measurably more people looking today than we had this time last year.
“Where we might perceive differences is in super-rich areas. Demand over £10 million isn’t as apparent as it might have been a year or even two years ago.
“Because these people tend to be foreign buyers, with the increasing value of sterling against foreign currency, the UK doesn’t look as good value as it did before.”
In the City of Westminster, however, where the average asking price exceeded £2 million this month, the borough saw a monthly increase in asking prices of 10.1 pc and recorded an annual change of 23.5 pc (£390,565).
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