Musings of a London Propeerty Finder

A few weeks ago we reported on the Savills auction held last week and tipped you off about a few good value properties.  So what happened?

We picked out 2 period houses in Camden, a 5/6 bedroom mansion flat on the Finchley Road, 2 adjoining mid-terrace properties on Holloway Road which are currently a squat, a vacant HMO on the Talgarth Road and a cute 3 bedroom cottage on the Shaftesbury estate.  We also discussed the public lavatories very close to Fulham Broadway in a blog devoted to self-build.

The lavatories were later featured in Bricks & Mortar, the property supplement published by The Times.  Interest was exceedingly high - the property was sold for £403,000 - four times the guide price of £90,000+.  Despite being 3 minutes walk from the tube and a very attractive building, the Walham Green Toilets as they are officially known, were sold at rather an inflated price in our opinion at £885.71 per square foot!

The 2/3 bedroom cottage on the Shaftesbury Estate in Battersea made £322,000 - a superb bargain considering other houses in the road sold for well over £500,000.  An estate agent sold a neighbouring home 4 doors down during the summer for £half a million.

The HMO on Talgarth Road, with 11 rooms minutes from Barons Court tube was sold for £662,000 - not a bad result given that a conservative gross yield would be around 7%.  Upgrading the facilities could result in a much greater income stream.

The squat on Holloway Road sold for £515,000 - a good price for one vacant freehold house in that location, never mind two!  The large mansion flat on the Finchley Road didn’t reach it’s reserve price we suspect, but we will update you when we hear more.  The Camden houses sold for £800,000 and £655,000, approximately £150,000-£200,000 and £100,000 less than their values in good condition and sold through an agent.

We didn’t mention the star of the show because we thought there was some interest from one of our Clients - a first time buyer looking for her first home.  The property was a 2 bedroom second floor flat on a Peabody Estate in Bloomsbury with 123 years remaining on the lease.  It sold for £306,000 which while not being completely recession proof, presents an excellent medium to long term investment with a 7% gross yield.  Interested parties should refer to the auction run by Allsops this week, where similar flats are on offer.

This London Property Finder regards Auctions as a sound barometer of proerty price movements.

Technorati Tags: Auction property, bargain property, London auction, London Auction bargains, London Property Auctions, London Property Finder, Svaills London Property Auction

Tags: Auction property, bargain property, London auction, London Auction bargains, London Property Auctions, London Property Finder, Svaills London Property Auction

London Property Finder

We have repeatedly advised that the Autumn property auctions will be indicative of things to come for the property market and Savill’s residential auction held mixed blessings yesterday.  Taking place the day after Lehmans went down and amid news of the Lloyds HBOS takeover, the timing wasn’t great.

Lots on offer were largely valued at less than £200,000 - prime first time buyer or amateur investor stock, with a smattering of houses in the £300K - £500K bracket and only one property with a guide price over half a million.

Starting at the top, 10 Primrose Hill Studios with a guide of £700 grand didn’t make it’s reserve at £750K.  Previously on the market with Behr & Butchoff at £865K, despite a great location in the heart of Primrose Hill, these largely one-floor 2 bedroom houses have a limited market, particularly given the price-tag.  The price per square foot looks a little toppy given it’s at auction and there is work to do.  For artists, disabled people in need of a carer or down-sizers, these little houses make good homes and there is a deal to be done here.

One of the great bargains of the day was lot 75, 44 Holden Street Battersea which sold for £330K, 10% over the guide and £200,000 less than 50 and 62 sold for during the last 12 months.  Presumably it needs gutting and is at least one bedroom smaller, but this looks like 2002 prices: previous Clients know we have been saying these areas have been over-priced for some time but at this price, it was good value.

We also picked out Grafton Road, Bedford, a huge house, again needing gutting but for a commuter needing space and in want of a project, it offered an affordable foothold at £130K.  Numbers 6, 31, 32 and 38 have all sold for over £200K in the last 3 years.

Musings of a London Property Finder

Professional investors are still spending: a ground rent investment in Kensington sold for £76,000 - it would have been less than half that at the beginning of the noughties.

A third of the properties didn’t sell; mostly one bedroom flats or houses in second-rate areas.  So here are the learning points:

• Investors are still buying land, development sites and ground rents
• First time buyers should take advantage of the slow market if they can: buying post-auction means you are in a very strong position and there is a range of stock under the new minimum stamp duty threshold
• Keenly priced property in good central locations is still selling
• 1 bedroom flats and property in second rate locations is sticking
• Most homes were priced or sold c. 20% below current market value or with only a small discount, given the work required  This is what you would expect in a healthy market although there were some excellent bargains 
• Hard nosed investors will want to see further price falls before they are tempted to relax the purse strings

Contact the London Property Finder for sound advice

Technorati Tags: Auction prices, Bargain prices, Buying tips, Ground rents, London auction, London Property Finder

Tags: Auction prices, Bargain prices, Buying tips, Ground rents, London auction, London Property Finder