Musings of a London Property Finder

Six months ago and pretty much all last year, Property Finders like me could rely on absolute bargains at auction for Clients keen to do some work.  At the time, we complained that there wasn’t really anything available over £300,000.  Now there are plenty of quality properties in good areas but in our view the amazing discounts have mostly faded away.  Here is our pick at the next Savills auction, but don’t expect fabulous bargains if you attend on the day.

Flat 5A Arkwright Road (pictured) is a case in point.  Hampstead afficionados will know that Arkwright Road is one of the most sought-after residential streets in the area and characterised by huge villas, most of which have been turned into flats.  The one bed flat with a turret, is on the top floor and situated no more than a brisk 10 minute walk to Hampstead tube and the heart of Hampstead village.  It needs a great deal of work and the buyer needs to contract to do the work and sell to an owner occupier but presumably an ambitious owner occupier could buy it immediately and call in the builders.  With alot of work, it could be an amazing flat and with a £250,000 price tag – looks to be excellent value.  We think it will go for over £300,000 maybe more.

Flat 2 in Old Royal Free Place will be an interesting lot to watch.  A two bedroom flat over 3 floors in need of modernisation, it is not ideal for sharers, since one of the bedrooms is galleried and overlooks the main reception room although perhaps a young architect would be keen to take it on?  With a guide of £295,000 it will be an interesting one to watch.  Many of the flats in this beautiful period square are still inhabited by housing association tenants, including female ex-offenders.  On the plus side it is a fantastic location in central Islington, very close to Angel tube station, Sainsburys and the high street shops of Upper Street.  Flats in nearby Theberton Street can sell for over £500,000 and even one bed flats in that area can achieve £400,000, so £300,000 for this essentially, ex-housing association property, seems fair.

Following the success Savills auction department have had with property in sought after W11, Savills have several flats for sale in the area.  Lot 55 is at first glance a bit of a gem.  It is a two bedroom top floor flat in a beautiful white stucco building on Elgin Crescent.  It has the use of the private gardens so quintessentially Notting Hill and unusually for an auction property, is in ‘reasonable’ decorative order with a modern kitchen and bathroom according to the auctioneers.  The exterior and communal parts have recently been redecorated we are led to understand.  Surely the resulting bill is not the reason for the owner to sell we ask?  Sadly it is after 5pm on a Friday and Savills have rightly gone home, so we will leave the due diligence on this and the other gems, to you, dear readers and join the other London Property Finders for a well-deserved glass of wine!

Technorati Tags: central London property, cheap Notting Hill flats, London Property Finder, Notting Hill property bargains, Savills auction

Tags: central London property, cheap Notting Hill flats, London Property Finder, Notting Hill property bargains, Savills auction

Musings of a London Property Finder

House prices have risen in May 1.2% according to statistics produced by Nationwide, however Chief Economist Martin Gahbauer warns that rises are due to decreased supply and cheap prices and are not necessarily signs of a recovery, although he says they are evidence of some improvement in the property market.

Commenting, Gahbauer said “Although the short-term trend in house prices has clearly improved from where it was at the beginning of the year, it is still too early to say that the market is turning definitively.” 

€œDuring the downturn of the early 1990s, there were many months during which prices rose, only to fall back down again in subsequent periods.  In the current downturn, the combination of rapidly rising unemployment and tight access to credit implies that the last of the price declines has probably not been seen yet€œ, added Mr Gahbauer.

In other news this week, the British Bankers€™ Association said the number of mortgages approved for house purchases rose by 4% in April compared with the previous month, rising from 26,671 to 27,685 approvals.  However, compared with April 2008, this represented a fall of 15.5%.

The average house price now stands at £154,016. This is 11.3% lower than a year ago, much better for house sellers than the 15% annual decline reported in April.

Gahbauer added that during the downturn of the early 1990s, there were many months during which prices rose, only to fall back down again in subsequent periods.  He concluded: €˜Survey evidence suggests that buyer interest has picked up strongly in response to lower prices and lower interest rates.  If this buyer interest translates into actual sales and outweighs any potential increases in supply, then the recent moderation in price falls may continue. For the moment, however, it is unclear how the balance between supply and demand will ultimately work through in the coming months.€™

But as with other indices showing house price rises recently, market commentators were quick to advise caution about any hopes of a sustained recovery.  

On a positive note, for property purchasers, property porn afficionados and Property Finders like us the long-term prognosis looks good for buyers now.  As the graph above shows, prices have now dipped to in line with the long term real house price trend, so although they may well drop further in the short term, buying the right property at the right price now should bode well for the future, in the long term at least.

Technorati Tags: house price trends, House Prices, London property finders, Nationwide House Price Index, Property Finders

Tags: house price trends, House Prices, London property finders, Nationwide House Price Index, Property Finders

Musings of a London Property Finder

Given my career as a London Property Finder I have to work with Estate Agents on a daily basis so frequently meet the over-bearing ones, the brainless ones and the really great, knowledgeable, if perhaps optimistic property aficionados.  Yes – as a Property Finder – I’ve met them all and just which camp Philip Taylor would fall into, I don’t know but we loved him and now he’s gone!!   But all is not lost – inevitably he’ll be back to help the finalists win the last task – will Kate be one of the final two, I ask myself?  But until then perhaps I will run into him in the flesh.   Many Estate Agents employ casual staff, including actors, musicians, comedians and wannabe TV stars just waiting for their big break, so we will watch with interest and let you know if we meet Philip from The Apprentice any time soon. 

Which leads me to Kirsty.  She’s probably not the first person to buy next door to dodgy neighbours and she won’t be the last!  But if you’re looking to buy in London and you want to know who’s next door then talk to us as we do a huge number of checks not only on the property purchased but also on them next door, or the next few doors, to be precise!

To the more mundane – the Bank of England has maintained interest rates at 0.5% as predicted, as they wait to see if the quantitative easing measures announced earlier this year have worked as planned.  Certainly the country seems a happier place than it has done for a while – clearly we are all fed up of doom and gloom, however given the house price indices published yesterday (see yesterday’s post for more), house prices are continuing to go down in the capital.  So it’s still a Buyer’s market and since we’re doing so much off-market at the moment – a London Property Finder’s dream!

Technorati Tags: Interest Rates, Kirsty Allsop, London Property Finder, Philip from the Apprentice, S&M neighbours

Tags: Interest Rates, Kirsty Allsop, London Property Finder, Philip from the Apprentice, S&M neighbours