Broker attributes surge to shortage of prime properties
Luxury-home prices in central London rose 4 per cent in the third quarter from the previous three months as buyers competed for fewer properties, Savills plc said.
| Recovering: Home prices in England and Wales rose 4.9% from March through July, lifting the average value to £196,338 (S$442,000). Ultra-prime properties cost an average of £15 million |
Houses and apartments worth more than £1 million (S$2.3 million) in the most expensive areas fell 4.9 per cent on an annual basis, the property broker said in a statement on Friday.
The biggest quarterly increases were in the districts of Chelsea, Kensington and Belgravia in west London. The annual decline narrowed from 11.5 per cent at the end of the second quarter.
‘There isn’t enough property on the market in prime areas and priced attractively to satisfy demand,’ said Camilla Dell, managing partner of Black Brick Property Solutions LLC, which finds and buys homes for wealthy customers. Her company, which has advised on £45 million of property deals this year, participated in closed-bid auctions for two multimillion-pound homes in London last week, she said.
The number of homes for sale is about 25 per cent less than the average for the past five years, London-based Savills estimates. Demand for luxury properties increased after values fell by about 18 per cent from the market’s peak in September 2007, the broker said. The pound’s weakness also made purchases cheaper for overseas buyers. Sterling slid about 20 per cent against the euro and the dollar since the peak. Continue reading
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