Prime London property transactions are on the up at the start of 2017.
According to Strutt & Parker’s Residential Quarterly report for Q1, transactions have increased across Prime Central London (PCL) for the past three quarters.
London has historically been the primary driver of national house price growth, but in 2016, the region was outperformed by the Outer South East, East Anglia and the South West regions.
Vanessa Hale, Partner in Research at Strutt & Parker, said: “UK house prices grew 4.1 per cent year on year to Q1 2017 but in PCL it was a very different story and prices fell by approximately 7 per cent in 2016, leaving values around 13 per cent down from the 2014 peak. The first quarter of 2017 has however seen a slight upturn in purchaser activity and realistically priced, good quality stock is selling reasonably well.”
In PCL, transactions in the sub £2m market in PCL saw a decline of 32 per cent when comparing Q1 2017 to Q1 2016, however the entire PCL market at all price levels is down 27 per cent for the same time period and follows three consecutive quarters of increased transactions. It is believed that the market may have already experienced the bulk of price falls. In addition, the recent weakness in sterling has played a part in attracting overseas purchasers and given a spur to higher value market sector activity. However, we continue to see the dominance of UK domestic buyers in PCL, with UK expat money seeking homes in the country over £2m, likely taking advantage of the US dollar strength against the UK pound.
Charlie Willis, Head of London Residential Agency, says: “We have seen a positive change in buyer sentiment and an uplift in transaction levels in the first quarter of 2017 compared to the end of last year. Values have now softened by up to 10% and buyers realised there are good opportunities out there. Meanwhile sellers are beginning to understand the importance of realistic pricing. Stamp Duty which was a concern for many buyers last year, is no longer causing such an issue and the market has absorbed this extra taxation.”
