Central London property prices have bounced back after a subdued performance since the millennium, according to UK property investment speci...

Central London property prices have bounced back after a subdued performance since the millennium, according to UK property investment specialists London Central Portfolio.

Using data from the UK’s Land Registry LCP have analysed property price movements in the prime London boroughs of Westminster and Kensington & Chelsea, which show an annual increase last year of 10.94 per cent.

According to LCP research, the average price of a property in prime London Central for 2006 was £716,778 ($1.4 million) compared with £202,739 for England & Wales as a whole where price growth was just 7.5 per cent last year.

The research shows that price growth for flats and maisonettes in Kensington & Chelsea in the fourth quarter was particularly strong, but for the year, growth averaged out at 11.9 per cent.

But the price of houses in the Royal Borough actually fell in the last quarter by 11.3 per cent year on year, partly because there were no recorded sales of detached houses in the quarter.

Growth across all residential properties in the City of Westminster last year was 10.38 per cent.

Naomi Heaton, chief executive of LCP, said: “The prime London Central residential market turned in a strong performance for the year of 2006. This is bringing the market back on track following more subdued activity in light of the international events since the beginning of the millennium.

“Despite marked fluctuations in performance across the year in the two prime central London boroughs of Kensington & Chelsea and City of Westminster, prices grew by just over 10 per cent. More buyers also came back into the market in 2006 bringing transactions closer to historical levels.”