London new buyer enquiries & new sales instructions Reproduced with the kind permission of the RICS

Our view about London property is similar to his because there has been a great deal of interest and activity from overseas buyers especially in and around London over the last 9 months and there is no sign of this interest slackening off.   Activity at the bottom end of the Central London market has picked up significantly over the last 8-10 weeks as first-time buyers, buy-to-let investors and parents of university students have all re-entered the market seeking bargains.  At the top end, demand is predominantly from overseas buyers or British Expatriates in our experience.  The increase in demand is matched by a shortage of supply in many areas of Central London.  With all the main house price indices showing price increases in many London boroughs over the last month or so, would-be vendors seem keen to wait for the elusive €™bounce€™ which many pundits have been predicting for next year.

Although the Bank of England kept its benchmark lending rate at 0.5% this is an exceptionally favourable rate.  Any prospective buyer would be well advised to investigate their borrowing power thoroughly and consider a return to interest rates of 5 €“ 7% as the Monetary Policy Committee will increase the Bank rate as soon as there is evidence of a recovery .  

 If you are looking for an investment or a new home give serious consideration to your move now as time for a favourable price may be running out.   London Property Search Agents like us are very busy with overseas buyers seeking bargains and the truth of the matter is that whether it is this year or next that we reach the bottom of the market, most people will miss out.

Technorati Tags: House Prices, London Property Search Agents, RICS

Tags: House Prices, London Property Search Agents, RICS

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

A glut of property offered for rental has pushed rents down according to the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors, the RICS.  This rather unsurprising news is as a result of numerous frustrated vendors opting to rent instead.  Our clients have benefitted from professional developers need to retain cash-flow this year particularly in Q3 and Q4, renting some fabulous homes intended purely for the sales market. 

In the RICS Lettings Survey published today, London and the South East have been the hardest hit: not a shock since a significant part of corporate relocations were down in Q4 and after 9 months on the market in some cases, vendors opted to become reluctant landlords to help with mortgage repayments.  We have seen an upswing in these properties, particularly since the middle to end of October, as hopes for a sale started to fade for many vendors.  We will therefore expect the situation to worsen in Q4 which is great news for tenants.

It should be said that sometimes rents are frankly ridiculous.  We are frequently offered property with a rent 2 or 3 times the real market value, but as with sales it is usually possible to get the landlord to see sense eventually and also to throw in lots of extras to clinch the deal. 

It is also true to say that fortune favours the brave and it is still possible to pick up buy-to-lets with a yield of over 10% if you buy the right property in the right location at the right price, even with pessimistic rental expectations.   If you don’t know how to do that, call this London property Finder on 020 7923 7564.

Technorati Tags: Buy-to-let, Lettings, London Lettings, London Property Finder, Rentals, RICS

Tags: Buy-to-let, Lettings, London Lettings, London Property Finder, Rentals, RICS