New research from Zoopla suggests that the total value of the 3.8m homes in London now stands at an estimated £2.64 trillion.
While the London housing market has lagged behind the rest of the country in terms of house price growth over the last decade, the capital’s housing market still accounts for almost a quarter (24%) of the entire UK residential market (£10.8 trillion).
A breakdown of the capital’s 32 boroughs showcases how the value of the residential housing market is distributed. The City of Westminster in inner London is the most valuable housing market (£175.1 billion), equating to 6.7% of the total value of the London housing market.
Overall, the top five most valuable boroughs – Westminster, Kensington and Chelsea, Wandsworth, Camden and Barnet – account for more than £700 billion, which is 21 per cent of the capital’s total housing value.
Whilst the expensive boroughs of Westminster, Kensington and Chelsea and Wandsworth lead the way in terms of total residential value, Richmond Upon Thames and Hammersmith and Fulham – also boroughs with high median house prices – contribute less to the overall residential value of the capital than more affordable boroughs like Southwark and Lambeth.
And despite lower median house prices, the five most affordable boroughs – Barking and Dagenham, Croydon, Lewisham, Newham and Bexley – account for 11% of the total value, which is primarily driven by the sheer volume of homes where values are lower than the London average. Collectively, these five boroughs boast 16% of the capital’s homes.
In outer London, which boasts 56% of the capital’s residential properties, Barnet is the highest-value borough with a combined residential housing value of £117.6 billion. With the second highest volume of homes after Croydon, the value of the area is driven up by the number of family homes, rather than the median house price, which sits at a mid-range of £562,600.
Collectively, the outer London boroughs account for 49% of the total residential value of London. After Barnet, boroughs like Ealing (£92 billion) and Bromley (£90 billion) lead the way in terms of overall housing value, again largely driven by the sheer volume and density of homes.
The research reveals the sheer scale of London’s residential market value, which remains comparable to the world’s largest economic entities and corporations, despite being impacted by recent economic headwinds such as Brexit, the pandemic and sustained high interest rates. At an estimated £2.6 trillion, the market value exceeds the combined market capitalisation of all FTSE 100 companies (£2.5 trillion).
However, despite the scale of the value of housing in London, the capital has seen a prolonged period of weaker house price inflation, largely impacted by the high cost of housing.
Over the last decade, inner London home values have risen by 10%, significantly under performing the 41% increase in average UK home values over the same period.
Additionally, slower house price inflation in inner London, caused by a softening of demand due to economic and tax changes, has shifted the balance within the capital. This explains why the difference in overall housing value between inner and outer London is closer than might be expected – the volume of homes in outer London outweighs the lower volume of higher value homes in inner London.
Richard Donnell, executive director at Zoopla, comments: “London’s housing market remains the most valuable market in the UK, but higher home values have created affordability problems that have held back house price inflation over the last decade compared to the UK as a whole. Earnings are rising faster than house prices which is helping to reset affordability and opening up more opportunities for homeowners to move home while broadly static home prices in inner London are presenting increasing opportunities for savvy home buyers”
