Property values in East Dulwich rose by only 0.2% in March which follows several months of sluggish activity in the East Dulwich property market in the run-up to the General Election.  This puts the average price of a property in East Dulwich at £631,500, 11% higher than in March 2014.

Interestingly, the Council of Mortgage Lenders and Estate Agent trade bodies over the last few months have reported seeing a fall in mortgage lending and enquiries from prospective homebuyers.  This is important because it comes amid an overall fall in housing market activity in East Dulwich.  Data from the Land Registry said completed house sales in East Dulwich in the three months to January 2015, (the most up-to-date figures available) fell by 51.02% compared to the same three-month period up to January 2014.

However, I believe that the slowdown in property sales in East Dulwich is supporting East Dulwich property values, as there is a shortage of houses coming onto the market.  Even though in the whole of the first Quarter of 2015, East Dulwich property value increases may seem subdued when compared to 2014, let us remember, property values are still rising well above the level of inflation.

As I have said many times before, the population in SE22 is growing at a much higher rate than the number of properties being built. The result is a severe imbalance in the East Dulwich housing market making homeownership an ever increasingly distant dream for many first-time buyers.

In fact, I still maintain the view that house prices are likely to rise by around 5% to 6% in East Dulwich in 2015, even after taking into account this blip at start of the year.  The reason being is that the rise reflects both strong economic conditions and steady market conditions with (and this is the most important factor) very low numbers of properties on the market.

Many Buy to Let landlords know that investing in the East Dulwich property market is a long-term strategy of 10, 20 even 30 years.  Governments come and go, but unless Southwark Council and the private sector start to build hundreds of new properties a year to make up for the shocking lack of supply there will always be an increasing demand for rental properties.

As my existing landlord clients will testify, whether you manage your property yourself, or another agent manages your properties, everyone is always made to feel welcome when they pop in for a coffee at our offices in East Dulwich to discuss anything to do with the property market.  I don’t bite, I don’t do hard sell, I will just give you my honest and straight talking opinion.