Samir Salya on the Hopeful Signs in London’s Property Market

The London property market is showing signs that the slump is easing for prime property. With interest returning to the capital’s three most expensive boroughs, a surge indicates that momentum is returning to London after a difficult year.

An increase in sales

Prime London property’s tough year looks to be starting 2018 on a positive note. The boroughs of Westminster, Camden, and Kensington and Chelsea are showing recovery after a jump in sales. Each saw sales rise by more than 20 per cent in the third quarter of 2017, according to a report produced by LSL/ Acadata.

Between August and October 2017, the top three boroughs by price, saw the biggest increases in transactions. West Minister and Camden both rose by 28 per cent for the first two, while Kensington and Chelsea saw an increase of 23 per cent.

As Westminster previously recorded the biggest annual fall in prices, a decrease of 18.2 per cent, the report shows the return of monthly growth to the region.

Lower prices in London

A polarity between lower and higher priced properties seems to be forming within the city. The LSL/ Acadata Index shows that of the 11 lowest priced boroughs, 4 have seen price drops in the last 12 months. In contrast to this, the most expensive boroughs have seen an increase in prices in the same period. The market recovery being seen in prime and high-priced boroughs show a return of momentum to sales. But, for now, this is only showing at the top end of the market.

Hope for the future

Acadata’s Peter Williams, Chairman and Director and John Tindale, who has led this analysis, are expecting this to be beneficial for the entire market. They state: “Movement at the top end of the market helps to increase activity all the way down the housing chain.”

On the whole, Acadata’s report is hopeful for the nation. While the rise of 0.9 per cent annual gain in prices shown in November was the slowest since April 2012 and are down 6.3 per cent on a year-on-year basis, there is still optimism surrounding these figures. This is the first time that the annual gain in prices percentage has increased from the previous month since March.

These signs of improvement are hopeful but also contain future concern. Prices in Greater London remain low, down 3 per cent on last year, and are pulling down the national average. Despite the recent slump looking to be gaining momentum, the future remains unclear for the London Property market.

About Samir Salya

Samir Salya is the Chairman of Reign Holdings and is involved in UK and UAE real estate and construction. Samir holds over 20 years’ experience in executive management, business expansion, performance improvement, sales and marketing.