Sometimes I wonder if we do the right thing extolling the virtues of prime central London real estate to risk averse overseas buyers looking for good capital appreciation and a safe haven for their hard-earned cash.  As London Buyers Agents, we do most of our business in prime established areas but we also buy in other areas of London including Hackney, Islington, Greenwich and Blackheath and others.

City buyers like Islington and parts of Hackney for the 20 minute commute to Bank.  Canary Wharf workers like Greenwich and Blackheath for similar reasons.  One of our Clients can get from his front door to his desk in 17 minutes.  But all of these areas were hit in the downturn and in our view Islington agents were the first to lose face back in 2007 when Lehman Brothers went down and Northern Rock followed.  So we tend to suggest prime areas, which are likely to weather future storms much better.  And are relatively immune to rioting.

As I write, the skirmishes in Hackney look relatively minor but this London Buyers Agent is under no illusions that we may see a different picture in the morning.  During the first six months of the year, Hackney house prices had increased by 4.1%, the third highest house price rise by borough across London according to the Land Registry.

Islington has also been a winner to date, with prices rising 5.5% year on year, but there was rioting there too at the weekend and now we hear Highbury resident BoJo is cutting short his holiday and  coming home to save the day.

Likewise, Lewisham which incorporates a small part of Blackheath and is the closest DLR to some of the lovely heath facing properties in West Blackheath, has seen violence today.  Property prices overall in the borough had increased by 3.2% year on year to June, but this rioting underlines the issues about the area.  One of our Clients who settled in Greenwich was considering moving to Lewisham at one point.  We strongly suggested they settle at least initially in Greenwich or Blackheath, which was admittedly more expensive, but what price do you put on safety?

I bet they are grateful today that they listened to our advice and although they paid more than they wanted to, we negotiated a significant proportion off the rent.

So I don’t regret being firm about areas with Clients.  Our job as London Buyers Agents is to find perfect properties on and off-market, negotiate great deals for our Clients and make sure they are buying in the right area for them in the first place.  London is a series of villages and although confidence and house prices in affected boroughs will almost certainly be hit, there is sure to be the right village for you.

Technorati Tags: blackheath, Hackney house price rises, Hackney house prices, hackney riots, House Prices, Islington house prices, Islington riots and house prices, islinton riots, lewisham house prices, lewisham riots, London riots

Tags: blackheath, Hackney house price rises, Hackney house prices, hackney riots, House Prices, Islington house prices, Islington riots and house prices, islinton riots, lewisham house prices, lewisham riots, London riots

Musings of a London Property Search Agent

The Land Registry House Price Index was released today with a mixed bag of news for property search agents, homeowners, buyers and sellers across the UK. 

Prices continued to drop in January, according to the index to 15.1% less than a year ago, 14.1% less for London residents.  Prices in the Royal borough have dropped 10.1%.  Jemima Khan has removed her £26million Chelsea pad from the market, we understand, and Hugh Grant has a budget of £20million.  Lucky him – we hope he is no just relying on his estate agent, who will be working for their Clients, the VENDORS, for advice!  Hugh – if you are reading, our number is 020 7923 7564 and we know we are one of the hardest working London Home Search Agents around!

There are still a few London boroughs where average drops are yet to hit double figures, with Westminster and Greeenwich leading the way on -6.4% and -6.9% respectively.  Definitely a reason to use a good London property search Agent if ever I heard one.  We do a substantial proportion of our business in the borough of Westminster, which covers Mayfair, Marylebone, Notting Hill, St James and Bayswater and I don’t know when we last agreed a sale with as low a discount as -6.4%.  In fact we would be pretty embarrassed to negotiate such a measly saving.  We have to save our savvy Clients at least 10% before we get any reward at all!!

I digress.

Richmond prices have dropped the most: -15.4% apparently, and that’s without the traditional flooding giving buyers the jitters.

Good news for Hackney vendors: average prices rose 0.1% in Hackney in January, helped no doubt by the transport improvements which are only a year away now.  Trendy Stokey is traditionally a favourite of bohemian media luvvies: could the news that the Olympic Media Centre is to be a permanent structure providing a legacy for the young people of Hackney also be a factor?

Other London Property Search Agents may have different experience, but only our investors and developers are interested in Hackney at present.

Technorati Tags: Chelsea Buyers Agents, Greenwich house prices, Hackney house price rises, House Price Rises in Hackney, Hugh Grant property search, Jemima Khan property, Jemima Khan property search, London Property Search Agent, Westminster London Property Search Agents, Westmister House Prices

Tags: Chelsea Buyers Agents, Greenwich house prices, Hackney house price rises, House Price Rises in Hackney, Hugh Grant property search, Jemima Khan property, Jemima Khan property search, London Property Search Agent, Westminster London Property Search Agents, Westmister House Prices