Musings of a London Buyer’s Agent

House prices will stop falling before the end of the year according to Simon Rubinsohn, Chief Economist at the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), who addressed the Building Societies Annual Conference yesterday.  He said that predictions of a 45% drop peak to trough were overly-pessimistic.  “I think the overall decline will be more like 25%-30%,” he said.

He warned that the return of the 95% mortgage is likely to have several strings attached and would often be tied to other insurance products, which will mean if borrowers can afford to pay the higher fees they entail, some may find it difficult to qualify.

Explaining that the jump in buyer enquiries had not been matched by the number of properties on sale he added: “This is partly because there are fewer distressed sales [people being forced to sell] €“ partly because home information packs may have put off speculative sellers and partly because people are still reluctant to sell at a price below what they think their property is worth.” 

“Buyer enquiries have risen particularly in London. Our members are picking up on a lot of potential interest from overseas buyers.”

Regular readers will know that we have routine rants about overseas buyers assuming they are getting a great deal because the low cost of sterling coupled with deflationary property prices means overseas buyers now pay significantly less than they would have done 2 years ago in many cases, but they are still frequently paying too much.  However as we predicted, against the tide of popular agreement, London and the Home Counties is standing up much better than predicted and when the bounce comes, it will be felt most strongly here. 

In some parts of prime Central London it’s hard to know there is a recession on.  Overseas buyers without knowledgeable London Buyer’s Agents to advise them are the people to thank for that.     I’ve just had a call from a contact who has been struggling to sell his Hans Crescent freehold for the last 18 months.  He has just accepted an offer £2 million over what we were discussing on behalf of a Client last year, before our Client changed his mind.  And in case you are wondering, our fees would have been alot less than £2 million!

Technorati Tags: effect of the recession on London house prices, house price crash, House Prices, London Buyer's Agents, RICS

Tags: effect of the recession on London house prices, house price crash, House Prices, London Buyer's Agents, RICS

Musings of a London Property Finder

In 2008 Foxtons lost approximately half their staff but it wasn’t enough and now BC Partners who bought the infamous estate agents at the height of the property market in June 2007, are seeking a debt for equity deal with lenders.  In a piece in The Guardian newspaper yesterday, the value of the debt to be written off is estimated at £60-£90 million. 

Tellingly Andrew Newingly, BC Partners London head admitted for the first time earlier this year that the firm “had got it wrong”, and that the £370 million purchase of Foxtons had been a mistake.

So for those readers who bought at the top of the market in 2007 just think - it could be worse: you could be down £370 million, not just a few hundred thousand.  And at least you have somewhere to lay your head at night!

And for those of you wishing to dispose discretely of prime London property, or to rent your abode to one of our fabulous tenants, we are the favourite London Property Finders of several discrete top end companies and would be delighted to deal directly with you.

Technorati Tags: Estate Agents, Foxtons, London Property Finder, London property finders, london property news

Tags: Estate Agents, Foxtons, London Property Finder, London property finders, london property news

Musings of a London Property Search Agent

The latest statistical release from the Land Registry shows that London house prices rose 0.79% in May which equates to an increase in value of £2,808 - barely enough to cover legal fees on a purchase and sale.

Nine months on from the beginning of the credit crunch, most would-be vendors are refusing to budge on price, which means house prices in the capital are basically flat. Naturally some boroughs are faring better than others. Kensington and Chelsea and the City of Westminster, the latter which includes Belgravia and Mayfair, have seen increases in average house prices of 8.13% and 9.48% respectively since the beginning of the Credit Crunch according to the Land Registry Data. Other boroughs faring well include Hackney, where prices have increased by an equally impressive 8.44%.

Average London house prices have increased 1.87% overall and homeowners in the South East are experiencing even flatter prices with an increase of 0.11% since September last year.  Now is the time to make the move just call this London Property Search Agent to get the right house at the best price.

Technorati Tags: London prices holding, London Property Search Agent

Tags: London prices holding, London Property Search Agent