It’s like watching a bad soap opera (are there any good ones?) or episode of Jerry Springer: One group of fairly thick people holds one point of view. Another group holds the opposite view. One or two people appear to be voices of reason but they are drowned out by the shouting of either side. […]
Massive Developer Discounts – An Opportunity or a Trap for Property Buyers?
In prime central London 482 properties were sold during the first quarter of 2016 according to Strutt & Parker. This was an overall decrease of 21% when compared to the same period in 2015. The 2015 figure was also low due to the uncertainty caused by the General Election and fears of a Labour victory/mansion […]
Discover Why Press Reports on London Property Are Dangerously Inaccurate
Journalists, city analysts and economists continually fail to accurately predict what will happen in the market. In the worst instances they can’t even tell you what is actually happening. For example, here are some quotes from newspaper articles: 2000 – “Housing-market experts, from estate agents on the ground to analysts in the high-rise city banks, […]
February Prime London Property Update
To begin with, here are some stats, facts & points of interest on the London property market: Lendinvest a peer to peer mortgage lender has just passed the £500m mark for lending since it was founded in 2013 (City A.M.) Over 150 cranes are operating in Zone 1 at the moment (Estates Gazette) Banks are […]
London Properties To Avoid Buying in London in 2016
2016 is going to be an exciting year full of volatility: Global stock markets are due a (severe) wobble after a relentless period of growth. Low oil prices will be a boon for many but a disaster for others Property prices in much of Asia have exploded in recent years. Will this echo the house price […]
Don’t Fall for Estate Agent Pressure Tactics
Catchphrases, soundbites and sayings. They may sound pithy and clever but often they obscure the truth. An estate agent recently said to me that “He who hesitates is lost”. He was referring to a nice apartment that has just become available and that it would sell quickly. I expect he may be right. However, this […]
How To Buy a Property at 25% Below The Asking Price
Before I show you how we have just bought an apartment for a client at 25% below the asking price, I just wanted to highlight a recent statistic. The Land Registry has just released its house price figures for houses that have actually sold compared to figures released on asking prices. Of course, this isn’t […]
Is Now A Good Time To Buy a Property in London?
I was called by a gentleman this week who would like me to represent him. He said: ” I am thinking of starting now to buy a house in August. I think it is a good time to buy as most other people will be away on holiday and someone might be keen to sell. […]
Shortest Lease You Should Consider When Buying A London Property
The mad, mad world of leases. If you were not born and bred in the U.K. (and even if you were) the whole concept of buying a lease seems odd- why would you pay millions for a property which, according to the lease, you wold have to relinquish after a stated number of years and […]
Asking Prices Fall in London
Asking prices are down 0.5% according to Rightmove. This is hardly a gargantuan swing in the market. Nevertheless, it shows that there is a definite mood change. Indeed there has been a huge increase in the number of price reductions (or price “adjustments” as the agents like to describe them…) in the past month. As […]