London asking prices increased by £4,000 between February and March 2018, a monthly rise of 0.6 per cent. However, homeowners remain reluctant to put their homes on the market as year-on-year asking prices continued to drop for the seventh month running, defying the traditional spring sales surge.

New seller numbers were three per cent lower this month than they were a year ago, at a time of year when homeowners usually rush to put their properties up for sale. This is because house prices in the capital remain subdued, with the average London asking price 0.6 per cent lower than in March 2017 at £632,000, according to property website Rightmove.

London’s best-performing borough was Bexley, where the average asking price was £409,400, up three per cent on the same period in 2017. This south-east London borough stretches from part of Abbey Wood, where a Crossrail station is due to open this autumn, down to Sidcup, which has become a first-time buyer hotspot thanks to its relative affordability and half-hour commute to central London.

Hounslow, which stretches from Chiswick to the borders of Heathrow airport, saw the second highest percentage price increase, rising 2.6 per cent in a year to £562,000.