London house prices grow "unsustainable" 10% in October alone

London house prices leapt up by a whopping 10.2% in October alone, increasing the average London house price by more than £50,000, to £544,232.

The growth has been driven by a “frenzy” of house-buying by foreign investors in prime inner London, according to property website Rightmove, which published the data.

Rightmove called the price growth in London “unsustainable”, despite it following house price drops of 2.8% and 1.5% in London in the preceding two months.

October’s staggering London house price growth saw prices increasing almost four times faster than in England and Wales as a whole, where house values went up by only 2.8% month-on-month.

Westminster house prices grew fastest in October. They increased by 11.9% in October, taking the average Westminster house price to £1.6m.

Kensington, Chelsea, Hammersmith and Fulham house prices went up by 11.8%.

London house prices were up 13.8% compared with this time last year, compared with the national average of 3.8%.

“London is a world city where overseas investors see real estate as a safe asset at a time when safe assets are increasingly scarce,” said Miles Shipside, Rightmove director.

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