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Prime central London real estate agents report major boost from election
Reports from estate agents in the prime London property market shows there has been a surge of high end deals since the election result just a few days ago. Over £200 million worth of residential property has been sold since it became clear that the Conservatives would win the election and form the new government. Peter Wetherell, chief executive of Wetherell said that the firm is currently processing some £29 million worth of offers that were made on Mayfair property on Friday 08 May straight after the election, which included a £26.5 million property in Mayfair. ‘I’ve had correspondence last Friday and over the weekend with some 70 clients and other property contacts and all of them have said to me that the luxury London market is now back in business, especially with the mansion tax worries now over,’ he explained. ‘Whilst stamp duty remains a significant cost on the prime London market, I believe that we will now see a wave of new luxury residential sales and new instructions coming onto the Mayfair and wider West End marketplace,’ he explained. ‘I’ve already had several clients coming onto me on Friday and over the weekend asking me to prepare launching new luxury properties into the market shortly. The next few months will be very exciting for the luxury residential market in central London,’ he added. Gary Hersham, managing director of Beauchamp Estates said that firm is still busy finalising the multi million pound of business activity that started on Friday, most notably a £20 million pound property in the West End which exchanged on Friday. ‘We will now see property activity in prime central London return to previous levels, if not surpass them, as delayed and pent-up activities are given the green light. Property played a very influential role in this election, voters wanted economic stability and their homes safe from a mansion tax,’ he pointed out. ‘We will now see a big wave of previously pent up demand unleashed in the London housing market, which will lead to a rise in new instructions and sales across London and the Home Counties in particular, especially in the premium sector of the housing market,’ he added. Becky Fatemi, managing director of Rokstone, revealed that the firm had exchanges and offers on prime London property worth a cool £59.7 million at the end of last week, the biggest set of deals since the rush on the day before stamp duty changes. The activity included a £20 million penthouse in Belgravia, and a £2.2 million flat on Duke Street in Mayfair. It also had offers on £37.5 million worth of additional property consisting of a £7.1 million house in South Kensington from a Lebanese buyer, a Saudi family offered on a £2.5 million apartment in St Johns Wood, an investor made an offer on a £6 million property in Hyde Park Street, and there was… Continue reading
Dubai sees property sales plummet compared to a year ago
The sales market in Dubai is slowing with the latest figures from the Land Department showing that they halved last month compared with a year earlier. Transactions fell 51.8% in April compared with the same month in 2014 and the total value was DH35.3 billion, down 37.1% year on year. According to the industry sales have been falling steadily since the end of last year after the Dubai government introduced tough new mortgage caps and higher transaction fees in an attempt to slow what had been one of the fastest rising housing markets in the world. Real estate consultants JLL and the ratings agency Standard & Poor’s are predicting that average house prices in the emirate could fall by between 10% and 20% this year while Deloitte has estimated that they will fall by 1% and 5% in the first half of this year. Indeed, according to CBRE average house prices fell 2% during the first three months of 2015. ‘These figures come as no surprise although from the face of it they look quite dramatic. A fall in volumes is a good leading indicator that prices will fall and we expect that to continue for the rest of this year. Last April the market was still booming, so any year on year figures will reflect that fact,’ said Craig Plumb, the head of research at JLL’s Dubai office. And the latest quarterly report from Phidar Advisory shows that residential prices in the first quarter of 2015 continue to decline, compared to the previous quarter. However, it is not all bad news according to Jesse Downs, managing director of Phidar Advisory as the market downturn is attracting selective opportunistic investment. The report also shows that overall prices fell by 3.9% in the first quarter of the year while apartment lease rates were down 0.3% and for villas they were down 2.4%. But apartment sales were up 0.6% year on year while villas fell 57%. Continue reading
New analysis reveals severe home planning shortfall in England
The property planning shortfall in England could grow to 180,000 over the course of the next parliament unless local authorities work together, it is claimed. The planning system is not delivering housing where need and market demand is greatest, according to a new analysis from real estate firm Savills. Its shows that the number of homes planned by local authorities in England is likely to result in a shortfall of around 36,000 homes a year, unless local planning authorities take greater account of housing need both within and beyond their boundaries. ‘Failure to cooperate on housing requirements across local authority boundaries is likely to result in an accumulated planning shortfall of 180,000 homes over the next five years. This is before we consider what house builders and other developers can deliver relative to these targets,’ the report points out. Figures shows that last year building starts reached 136,000 in England. However, according to analysis undertaken on behalf of the Town and Country Planning Association (TCPA), at least 240,000 new homes a year in England are needed from now to 2031. The greatest requirement is in London and the South East where the property market has been strongest. However, the Savills analysis shows that these are the areas where the deficiency in the number of homes being planned is likely to be the greatest. Housing targets adopted so far are 80% of the corresponding Strategic Housing Market Assessment (SHMA) figures across the country. ‘A continuation of this trend would result in a shortfall of 26,000 homes a year in the south and east of England, including London. This figure equates to 74% of total housing shortfall for the whole of England,’ the report says. Of a total 114 local authorities in the south and east of England, 31 or 27% have neither an adopted local plan nor a recent SHMA published since the National Policy Planning Framework (NPPF) was introduced in 2012, the report points out. Yet these local authorities currently accommodate a quarter of all existing households in the region and will face pressure to meet the requirements for housing emerging from London and surrounding local authorities,’ it adds. The 31 local authorities without post-NPPF local plans include Sevenoaks, Elmbridge and Epping Forest. These are strong housing markets where over 50% of the authority is designated as green belt. Shortfalls are less pronounced in the North, Midlands and west of England. Assuming targets adopted by the local authorities that still lack a post-NPPF plan are 80% of their SHMA, the annual planning shortfall could amount to 7,349 homes in the Midlands and west of England and 2,038 in the North. Despite the increase in planning permissions towards 200,000 homes per year in England last year, 20,000 were granted through appeal. A closer analysis reveals persistent problems in maintaining an adequate supply of land for housing and that this problem is most notable where the level of housing need is greatest. Continue reading
