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25th September 2015
Latest Rightmove forecasts claim that the average London home will cost £1m by 2020. Prices in the capital hit an all-time high in September, jumping 2.2% or £13,177 to reach £620,003, according to Rightmove's latest House Price Index.. Annual growth in London was 9.5%.
Evening Standard (21/09/2015))
25th September 2015
There is an abundancy of two, three and four-bedroom new-build homes in central London as planners push developers to build family homes despite a lack of demand. JLL says that many families did not want to live in new homes in the heart of the capital and that planners should be allowing developers to build more studio or one-bedroom flats, which would be snapped up by young professionals.
The Times (23/09/2015)
25th September 2015
A home in Mayfair’s Brick Street has set a new rental record for London, with a monthly rent the equivalent of over £216,000. A report authored by property data analysts LonRes claims the rate exceeds the record set by luxury apartment block One Hyde Park in Knightsbridge last year.
Evening Standard (23/09/2015)
25th September 2015
A derelict outbuilding tucked behind a shop in East Dulwich, south London, has sold for more than twice the average house price in England. The two-storey building, which comes with a garden and planning permission to convert it into a two-bedroom home, sold for £440,000 at a Savills auction on Monday, £120,000 more than the guide price.
The Times (23/09/2015)
18th September 2015
With the soaring prices of recent years settling down the Sunday Times considers the outlook for London’s property market. "The capital's housing market is the most stable it's been for years," says Julian Peak of Kinleigh Folkard & Hayward. "In the past, there has been a boom-and-bust trend of price surges as buyers flood the market, then corrections as demand subsides. But 2015 has been different." London estate agents described the first day after the Conservatives’ election win as "bonkers", "like a whirling dervish" and "the centre of a hurricane" - there has been "steady and sustained activity", as Mr Peak puts it. Charlie Bubear, head of Savills in Chelsea, says that one of the reasons for this is a "delayed reaction" to December's stamp-duty changes. This evened out the expected post-poll bounce. Last year, for example, you would have had to spend more than £7.14m on a home to be landed with a £500,000 stamp-duty bill; now that sum applies to properties over £4.89m. According to Richard Barber, director at WA Ellis, across London as a whole, the number of properties sold for more than £1m fell by 26% year-on-year. This could be good news for buyers, signalling a return to normality in the market," he says. Below the £1m mark, lower stamp duty and the BoE’s signal that interest rates won't rise until 2016 have given a modest boost to buyers. However, Adam Challis, head of residential research at JLL, cites improving economic and employment prospects as "a far more important factor supporting demand". He expects average prices to increase by 4%-5% by Christmas, compared with 3%-4% in prime London.
18th September 2015
The Sunday Times looks at how the practice of flipping has made a return in London. Jeremy McGivern, managing director of Mercury Homesearch, says flipping can be lucrative if you choose the right development. However, he warns that it’s essential to do your research, to make sure that the demand is there and that there are not too many other buyers with the same idea. "The big danger is that speculators target the same developments, then all try to flip at the same time," he says. "They may well discover that there is not the demand to allow them to do so. In many cases, these speculators could lose their deposit, as they are not capable of providing the funds to complete." The key to success is playing the long game, says Michael Goldmann, sales and marketing director at Regal Homes, who has seen buyers making substantial profits by flipping the firm's properties before completion. "Anyone buying with the intention of selling on should look for a property where the completion date is far enough in the future to cushion any effect that a minor slowdown in the market may have," he says. Ray Withers, chief executive of the investment firm Property Frontiers, feels the strategy is simply too high-risk: if you can't find a buyer before completion, you will have to find a way to pay for the property or lose your deposit. Even if you can buy it, you may be lumbered with an investment flat you don't want or need. "If you don't have the wherewithal and appetite to complete, this is not a risk worth taking," he says.
The Sunday Times, London Property, (13/09/2015)