There has been a bit of noise made these past few days about house prices dropping, with news outlets everywhere from The Guardian to the Financial Times picking up on figures from a new report released by Rightmove at the end of last week.
The data shows that average property prices have dropped by 0.3% this June. It may seem like a tiny fraction, but nevertheless it is unusual for this time of year, as prices in June typically rise by 0.4% on average, according to their figures. Still fractional, but enough to cause a stir in the national press.
Nevertheless, before we get too animated, there are a few things to consider which offer a little more context.
Property Price Reporting
The trouble with the term ‘property prices’ in these sorts of news stories, is that without context, you don’t necessarily know what prices are being referred to.
In this case, for example, the newspaper headlines speak of ‘property prices dropping’ – but actually, the Rightmove report that these stories refer to is describing ‘asking prices’ – the price that properties are listed for – not the sold prices that get lodged with Land Registry and find their way into Office for National Statistics (ONS) data.
‘Asking Prices’ arguably can mean ‘property prices’… but they don’t mean ‘property values’. And property values are of more concern to most homeowners.
0.3% on an average UK ‘asking price’ of c. £378,000 therefore looks more like a slight dip, in that context.
And when it comes to it, it is also a slight dip that has followed a very strong first quarter, where asking prices surged ahead – largely as buyers came out in more force than normal to beat the stamp duty hike at the end of March. Property purchasers rushed to complete before the deadline, which brought forward a wave of activity and added some short-term heat to the market earlier this year.
It means that what we’re seeing now isn’t a collapse by any means – in case anyone worried that 0.3% represented one. It is more like a recalibration.
In fact, the bigger story is the sheer number of properties that have continued to come to market over the two and a half months since. Market confidence has held up remarkably well, as the expectation had been for the market to stall and drop once stamp duty increased.
The opposite has happened – and that is despite inflationary pressure (increased cost of living, council tax, energy price cap and more), which has come on top of the stamp duty increase.
In fact, given less air-time (or column-inches) but nevertheless published in the very same Rightmove Report, was data showing May 2025 to have been the busiest sales month since March 2022 – with sales up by 6%, and buyer enquiries up by 3% compared to the same period last year.
Property listings however are up even further, by 11%… a great sign that seller sentiment is also strong, but it does mean that there would seem to be more properties for sale than there are buyers in the market. The buyers that are out there now have more choice, and that is likely to put some gentle downward pressure on asking prices nationally.
Which leads to another question, of course: a national discussion is well and good, but what about property here in SE24?
The Local Herne Hill Property Market in June 2025
Overall, asking prices here in the SE24 haven’t changed much at all –according to the property data website home.co.uk, the average asking price in Herne Hill has more or less flatlined since January, with only extremely minor deviations either way month by month. The current average asking price in the postcode is £787,936 – it was £786,266 in May… a tiny increase, rather than a drop.
But, there are other things to look at within the data.
Asking price changes vary considerably depending on property type. The asking price of flats for example has decreased by 1%; terraces have risen however by 7%, semi detached property prices have risen by 11%, and Detached Properties have increased by a rather staggering 24% – in one month!
But, the average change overall hovers around the 0% mark because there are so many more flats for sale than house, and particularly detached houses; detached prices might have varied wildly, but that points to a small number of much more expensive detached properties listing this month compared to last.
Crucially of course, asking prices only tell a part of the story – something that I alluded to earlier.
The latest sold price data (which lags around three months behind) shows that average property prices in Herne Hill are around 2% higher than a year ago, according to data from Rightmove.
As a headline figure, that comes in better than the average for London as a whole, which has seen property prices rise by 0.8% over the same 12 months. On the other hand, it has been well documented that prices in London have dropped behind the gains seen nationally, where prices have risen by 6.4% during the same period. So even though prices might have fared a little better than elsewhere in London over the past year, we have to acknowledge that they are behind the growth curve being seen elsewhere in the country as a whole.
That being said, here in Herne Hill we have a much higher density of terraced homes and flats than other parts of the country, proportionately speaking. With the first-time buyer market having been so healthy, especially over the last quarter of 2024 and the first quarter of 2025, it has meant that sales of those naturally lower priced properties have been disproportionately higher than normal.
Also, there have been moments during the past few months where Herne Hill has seen its prices rising much faster than other parts of the capital, and indeed many parts of the country.
A 2% increase in a year is fairly modest – but again, if this is a moment of price recalibration, I think we accept that as being a little ‘rough with the smooth’, overall.
That said, I would caution ahead of time that we may yet see a dip when the April–May data lands. It would be a reflection of the post-stamp duty adjustment, when buyers took a breath and a step back, and when a higher number of prices were renegotiated than normal, as buyers’ purchase costs increased.
What can I do to sell my home in Herne Hill?
The local market is still in positive shape. However, we do recognise the swell of properties for sale and the general trend that buyer numbers are starting to drop off. This is a feature of most summer markets – but perhaps, with an expedited spring market due to that race to beat the Stamp-Duty Deadline on March 31st, summer might just have come a little early.
In a more competitive market, pricing your home accurately matters more than ever.
If you are thinking of selling a property in Herne Hill, I would recommend asking yourself the question: is it really worth taking a gamble on an exaggerated price, believing that you can always reduce later? Or would you rather go to market with the right price from the off, attract the right buyers from day one, and move with confidence – quickly and proactively, without wasting time?
Would it make a difference to know that, according to Rightmove, ‘homes which attract an enquiry on the first day of marketing are 22% more likely to find a buyer than homes which take more than two weeks to receive their first enquiry’?
It does bear thinking about…
Here at Petermans Estate Agents, we’re seeing a willing and active market. The right price, the right presentation, and a good local agent with not just industry knowledge but also local market knowledge still makes all the difference.
If you’re unsure where your property sits in today’s market, just pop in and see us, right here on Herne Hill itself. There is never any pressure, and nor is there any hot air or smoke blown – just a friendly chat and honest advice from people who know Herne Hill inside out.