From houseprices.co.uk, this block makes a nice microcosm of what may be going on (according to EAs, it leads what happens in C South):

09/11/2007 £535,000 Flat 31, Nightingale Lane, Wandsworth, London, Greater London, SW4 9AQ
15/08/2007 £615,000 Flat 20, Nightingale Lane, Wandsworth, London, Greater London, SW4 9AQ
19/01/2007 £475,000 Flat 23, Nightingale Lane, Wandsworth, London, Greater London, SW4 9AQ
14/07/2006 £460,000 Flat 3, Nightingale Lane, Wandsworth, London, Greater London, SW4 9AQ

Flat 20 + 23 are next to one another on the first floor: shows how prices shot up 30% in 6 months over Xmas 06. Flat 31 is on the top hence a discount but has two bathrooms rather than one... was originally on the market for 615 in Feb.

Top floor flats usually cost more because of less noise and better views......

Stairs...
I sold in C ham South March seems like prices have pretty much stuck since then
I feel flats have probably fallen a touch and houses gone up a touch
Same story Wandsworth Battersea C ham

Absolutely... stairs, stairs and more stairs. Also, the ceilings in higher flats are often lower.

There was a reason why the first floor was known by the Romans and the piano nobile or something. When the block I was in bought its leasehold and each flat was valued to calculate share of acquisition costs, the first floor flats were the most expensive followed by ground then second, third etc. This was in a block without a lift.

There are 50 stairs from the ground to my humble abode and no lift. As a result of all that running up and down, I have the same waist as when I left school and buttocks of steel - surely worth a premium???

Plus more light and NO NOISE FROM ABOVE. Can't believe that's overlooked.

If I were childless, I would agree. I hate noisy upstairs neighbours and would probably pay a premium for that. And you get a nicer view, too.

On the other hand, in older blocks the water pressure can be so poor that you often have to shower in peak hour under a dribble.

Odd... Flat 31 has disappeared from houseprices.co.uk.

apologies in advance.........

Used to live close to here in Balham.

Flatmate had a friend with the surname Barclay.

So one day they popped round the corner from the street above to get a genuine photo of a Barclay singing in Nightingale Square.

I'm watching Balham on FindaProperty - this week a quarter of the stock for sale has been taken off the market unsold. Starting to sort the "committed" sellers from the kiteflyers I think. Also number of reductions on Propertysnake listed for Balham has climbed by one third in one week.