London house-price growth to slow to 3% in 2015

Growth of London house prices is expected to slow to 3% next year, according to research by to Hamptons International.

However, this year the estate agent expects house prices to soar by 15.5%.

“A recognition that interest rates will begin to rise before too long has led both buyers and sellers to moderate their expectations of future price growth,” said Fionnuala Earley, director of residential research at Hamptons International. “This is at a time when the financial position of many households is still stretched as real wages have been falling for five years.”

Separately, estate agent Haart predicts house prices to go down as Londoners are rushing to sell their homes.

Haart’s data shows the number of London homeowners looking to sell homes has increased by nearly a third, up 32.3% in the year to July.

Paul Smith, chief executive of Haart, told the City A.M.: “Many homeowners are adopting a now-or-never attitude to take advantage of the continuing strength of the market, having seen their equity rocket over the last year.”

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