London house hunter hotspots: can you guess the trendy areas where would-be buyers can't get enough?
There are a trio of London boroughs where the temperature is rising and buyer enquiries have more than doubled.
Dulwich has seen a 153 per cent rise in enquiries from prospective buyers per month versus last year, estate agents Foxtons has revealed.
The south London borough is popular with younger buyers looking to get on the housing ladder.
“Dulwich has grown increasingly popular of late, especially amongst younger buyers as the new ‘cool’ place to be — a crown that was previously held by the likes of Shoreditch and Camden for quite some time,” Director of Benham and Reeves Marc von Grundherr told Homes & Property.
With its art galleries and green spaces, Dulwich — where the average asking price for a property is currently £772,360 (Rightmove) — was recently voted London’s trendiest neighbourhood.
Dulwich was certainly cool enough for model Rosie Huntington-Whiteley and her action movie star boyfriend Jason Statham. After deciding they wanted to raise their family in Huntington-Whiteley’s home country, the couple put their Malibu home on the market for £14 million in 2020 and have since been spotted around Dulwich Village.
Alex Vent, of Winkworth’s office in Dulwich, previously described Dulwich as “the Hampstead of the South”. The Hampstead of the North — ie Hampstead — was the second hottest spot. Foxtons recorded a 104 increase in monthly buyer applicant enquiries versus 2023.
A stalwart of the celebrity set and London’s wealthier residents, steep discounts on prime properties are snagging the attention of savvy super rich on the hunt for a bargain.
“Hampstead remains a sought after location for wealthier second and third rung buyers in search of larger homes and more green space,” said von Grunherr.
“This ever-lasting appeal does come with a substantial prime London price tag, however, property values in Hampstead have cooled by around 7 per cent year on year. This has no doubt spurred many buyers to strike while the iron is hot and secure a saving before the market re-finds its feet over the coming year."
Saving is a relative term, as the average asking price for a house in Hampstead is still £1,331,399 according to Rightmove.
Hampstead can of course lay claim to one of London’s greatest green spaces, Hampstead Heath, which got namedropped by former resident Taylor Swift in her latest album, The Tortured Poets Department.
Harry Styles, singer and noted ex boyfriend of Swift, has a multi-million pound property portfolio close to the exclusive north London enclave. The latest celebrity singer to move to the area is Lewis Capaldi, who has reportedly bought a £3 million home there. The average asking price for a house in Hampstead.
While somewhat less starry, Ilford has also attracted attention, with buyer enquiries up 101 per cent.
A beneficiary of the Elizabeth Line, this east London suburb is an attractive option for first-time buyers looking for suburban homes within their budget under half an hour from central London.
Buyer applicant enquiries were up 41 per cent across the board, Foxtons noticed, as the market starts to recover after a year of excruciating mortgage rises.
“It’s been an extremely positive start to the year for the London property market and we’ve already seen a notable increase in the number of buyers enquiring across all but a handful of areas,” said Foxtons CEO Guy Gittins.
“This is despite the fact that mortgage rates are yet to come down and such a show of intent so early in the year only bodes well for the coming months as we head into what is traditionally the busiest time of year for market activity. “