London's £431,000 Apartments Are Devalued by Stigma

Britons are souring on apartments. That's a particular problem for London, where flats overwhelmingly account for new-home sales and construction has already slowed to a crawl, leaving housing supply at a fraction of government-set targets. Cratering demand presents a challenge to policy makers — as well as an opportunity for buyers willing to do their homework in a market sector that people are shunning. Anyone who bought a typical London apartment a decade ago owns a depreciating asset. The average flat price was about £431,000 ($582,000) in June, down £2,000 from the same month in 2016, Land Registry figures published in August show. If the same property had kept pace with inflation, it would be worth an extra £180,000 now. By contrast, prices of houses have risen by about a fifth. It's a pattern repeated nationwide, with the ratio of UK house-to-apartment values at its widest in 30 years, according to property portal Zoopla.