The subject of this email was a headline from City A.M.
Investment in prime central London dried up in the first six months of this year.
Last year sales of homes over £15m totalled £829m between January and the end of June.
So, considering that the market has “dried up” how little do you think was spent on £15m+ properties this year? £415m – a fall of 50%, perhaps? Or could it have been even worse – £250m?
Well, according to Beauchamp Estates, £731m of deals took place. That is a fall of 12%. Far from ideal but unsurprising considering that we had an election in July. And would it be unfair to say that this is hardly a case of the market “drying up”?
Indeed, “the number of deals for homes above £15m in London stayed similar in the six months to June 30; nudging up from 45 to 46 year on year”. Is this catastrophic news or is yet another journalist scratching around for a story?
But it’s not just the top end of the market that is showing far more resilience then the pundits have been predicting:
Zoopla has recently reported that agreed sales in the four weeks to July 21 rose 16% compared to last year. Meanwhile, a survey by PWC found that UK consumer sentiment reached its highest level in three years this month.
And if the residential property market is such a complete shambles, then why is the share price of Berkeley Group up 16.2% over the last year, while Persimmon is up 36.32% – both comfortably outpacing the FTSE 100 which is only up 7.7% over the same timeframe?
Hmmm, would it be complete madness to suggest that the scare stories about a Labour victory, “high” mortgage rates and the budget shortfall might not be quite as decisive for the property market as conventional wisdom would have you believe?
Of course, what happens in every area and price range is different, so pretty much everything you read is far too general to be of any use. You need far more sophisticated information if you want to make an intelligent decision.
So, if you are planning to acquire a property in London in the next 6 months would it be a waste of your time to have a Strategy Session with me to discuss your plans and receive advice specific to your budget and the areas in which you would like to acquire a property?
“What was refreshing was that rather than focusing on the potential purchase (which is where he would have earned a fee), he advised us that acquiring another property may not be the best option for us.
We would recommend that you speak to Jeremy if you are planning to acquire a property in London. It is very rare to find someone who will give honest and objective advice especially when it is not in their interest to do so; but Jeremy did just that. We would definitely recommend his services.” Mr. and Mrs. M. Smith (Belgravia)
To discover more simply email [email protected] or call 02034578855 (+442034578855 from outside the UK.).
