UK Property Market Sees Brexit Boom
Property sales website, Rightmove saw it’s busiest month ever in January with site visits surpassing the 150 million mark for the first time. Property transactions for the month also saw the biggest year on year jump since 2017 with London at a huge 26% leading the way. Barratt Developments also saw a marked increase in enquiries and site visits, according to CEO David Barratt.
Posted by: Kelvin Tayfield, Sat, Feb 8th 2020
Downtown International Offers Bespoke London Property Search Service
The December victory for Boris Johnson’s Conservative Party has resulted in a sharp increase in demand for premium London real estate with Savills predicting a price rise in excess of 20% for London’s top post codes over the next five years. A London based specialist agent recently successfully concluded a mandated search for a European family with a £65m transaction while a number of agents have reported an increase in search mandates from wealthy international investors.
In order to satisfy this increased demand, we are pleased to announce a partnership with Oakmont Private Office who provide a bespoke service for investors in London real estate. This association combining our respective resources and experience will enable Downtown International to provide a comprehensive solution to discerning investors across the London residential spectrum.
Posted by: Kelvin Tayfield, Sun, Feb 2nd 2020
New Member Announcement: Julian Simerly
Downtown International is excited to announce Julian Simerly as our newest member of our team.
Julian has been helping us before from his Barclays days, providing us with mortgages, participating in various seminars and introducing a number of his clients looking to buy property in London. Given his previous role, Julian will be looking after UAE market.
A warm welcome and lots of good wishes on becoming part of our growing team. Congratulations and on behalf of all the members. We are all happy and excited about your inputs and contribution to our company.
Posted by: Downtown International, Sun, Feb 2nd 2020
Housing Market Back with a Bang as Buyers Flood Back After Election
Buyers and sellers back in huge numbers since election, say estate agents.
London’s property market has sprung spectacularly back into life with buyers flocking back in record numbers after a three-year “Brexit freeze”.
Agents across the capital have reported “unprecedented” volumes of registrations since Boris Johnson’s decisive election win over Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party.
Leading firm Knight Frank said last Saturday was its “busiest ever” for viewings,with new buyer registrations in the second week of January almost double the level of 2019 and 2018.
Christopher Burton, head of Knight Frank’s Dulwich office, said: “Interest has exploded at the start of this year.”
Sellers have also returned in huge numbers, with the total value of London properties being put up for sale since polling day already above £10 billion.
Ian Springett, chief executive of OnTheMarket said: “We have seen a higher than expected 91 per cent increase in the number of sales leads over the first seven days of January 2020 compared with the same period last year.”
There are early signs that the dramatic upsurge in interest has started to feed into prices.
Rightmove said today that the average asking price rose by 2.1 per cent, or £12,320, to £600,145, in the month to January 11, the biggest monthly jump ever recorded at this time of year.
The recovery has been particularly strong at the higher end of the market where buyers and sellers have been in “property hibernation” for more than half a decade.
London agents Nested said “For Sale” signs have gone up outside £4.5 billion worth of homes priced at £1 million or more since the election, a 39 per cent increase on the same period last year.
Chief executive Matt Robinson said: “This year has started with a bang. We’ve received double the number of enquiries than in the same period in 2019 and on Saturday we had a record number of viewings.”
Across the market as a whole, Merton, Ealing and Lambeth have seen particularly strong increases in instructions from sellers.
Meanwhile, agents Savills said more £5 million-plus sales of London homes went through in December than in any month for five years.
Lucy Pendleton, managing director of estate agents James Pendleton, said there was growing evidence of “green shoots” since the risk of a Corbyn-led government was removed. “All of a sudden it is not unusual to have multiple offers and to go over asking price.
“The average selling price has been 98.3 per cent of asking over recent weeks, before the election it was down in the low nineties. There’s no gazumping going on yet thankfully — but who’s to say that it’s not far away,” she said.
She added that in the week commencing December 16, the agency agreed 14 sales worth a total of £12 million, the highest number for the week before Christmas in five years.
Simon Gerrard, managing director of estate agent Martyn Gerrard, said: “There more optimism in the air. We have felt for some time that all the market needed was some kind of political resolution and stability for buyers and sellers to return.
“The definitive election result has meant even more people are now looking at their plans for the future and feel they can confidently get on with them.”
A spokeswoman for online broker Habito said: “Our data found that Google searches for the words ‘mortgage in principle’ were up 63 per cent in the first six days of January, while searches for ‘mortgage advisor’ were up 80 per cent compared with 2019.”
Ed Mead, founder of the online property viewings portal Viewber, also said appointments are up 50 per cent since the election.
Marc von Grundherr, director of London agents Benham & Reeves, said: “The coal that fills the furnace of the UK property market is market sentiment and it doesn’t matter what your stance is on Boris, even the slightest inkling of returning stability has been enough to reignite the fires for both buyers and sellers.”
Grabbed from www.homesandproperty.co.uk
Posted by: Downtown International, Sun, Jan 26th 2020
UK Business Confidence Rebounds Dramatically
According to a recent survey by Deloitte UK business confidence showed an ‘unprecedented’ rise in December, the highest rise in the survey’s eleven-year history. While one could say that this after a period of pessimism caused by Brexit uncertainty it should be noted that the Deloitte survey covered the post financial crisis period as well.
This business confidence coupled with low interest rates should translate into increased investment which in turn leads to job creation and additional housing demand.
Posted by: Kelvin Tayfield, Sat, Jan 18th 2020