Lewisham house prices rising at 14% annually as Great Inversion accelerates

Lewisham's house prices have risen at an average annualised rate of 14% over the last two quarters, the 8th fastest recorded price rise in London, according to the latest Nationwide House Price Index.

The data, released yesterday, shows an acceleration of the trend we've written about before - in terms of house prices, inner and outer London are diverging as a "great inversion" takes place.

London boroughs ranked in terms of the fastest rising house prices over the last 6 months

As the map shows, all of the fastest-rising boroughs are in London's inner core. By contrast, all of the boroughs with the slowest rates of house price growth are at the city's edges: Kingston Upon Thames, Redbridge and Harrow's prices have hardly risen at all. The City and K&C are excluded on the basis that too few sales are recorded to provide an accurate sample.

The factors driving this (with the exception, possibly, of international investors flooding into central London) are all long-term trends - jobs are increasingly centrally located, people are having families later and the quality of life (air quality, crime, schools, shops and restaurants are all improving in inner London). So the price trends should be similarly sustained.

Lewisham is still fairly affordable by London standards (17th overall in terms of average house prices) but expect the tables to change significantly within a few years. These trends mean (other than in pockets) the end of relatively cheap homes in Lewisham and inner London. The map is being redrawn and the effects over the next decade will be profound.