Don’t believe the hype. Last week we highlighted a story that suggested house prices were about to crash. The article was based on Rightmove’s asking price figures. Two days later Rightmove provided data that was heralded by the bulls: it reported that national average asking prices are now 8.2% higher than the May 2008 peak. Asking […]
Are London House Prices About To Crash?
One of the joys of going on holiday is that I can escape the barrage of information on London property that I sift through every day. And trust me there are an awful lot of statistics, articles and opinions spewed forth every day. Some of it is enlightening while much of it is simply wrong […]
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 […]
Changes to the UK Mortgage Market
If you do not plan to use a mortgage to buy a property then you can ignore this post. If you are, then this is important. The Mortgage Market Review (MMR) was launched about 4 weeks ago by the Financial Conduct Authority. The idea was to create a system that ensured that the banks lent […]
Foreigners Strong Desire for London Property
“Foreigners have an unhealthily strong desire for London property”. This is the view of a Reuters Breaking views’ columnist. Good headline grabbing stuff although I am not quite sure for whom the desire is unhealthy. Of course, there are concerns that London house prices are in bubble territory. If judged against the earnings of London […]
New Tax Regime For Prime London Property
Yesterday was Budget Day. A day that politicians and journalists live for but the rest of us could quite happily miss. In fact rather than hours of coverage most sane individuals would rather a brief synopsis of the major points. So here are the key points with regards to property: The government really doesn’t like […]
London Property: Ghost Gazumping
Ghost gazumping is the new hot phrase in London property or so I am told. It appeared in an article in The Financial Times recently and has led me to some rather feeble gags about haunted houses. But what is it and should you be worried. The phenomenon is nothing actually new. Ghost gazumping is […]
Property Fraud In St Johns Wood
This caught my attention this week. An 88 year old man has been conned by an estate agent. The agent based in St John’s Wood sold the gentleman’s house for £999,999 (just below the 5% stamp duty threshold). The house was in fact worth £1.8m. The agent sold it to his brother-in-law, a property developer. […]
How To Negotiate When Buying A Property
Greed is a powerful motivator. Lack of knowledge normally leads to bad decisions. The combination of the two normally leads to expensive mistakes. You can use this to your advantage. I recently wrote about a house in Notting Hill I had just acquired for some clients. The seller had previously rejected an offer that was […]
Prime London Property Report – January 2014
Implosion or Explosion? Will property prices in PCL continue to rise or are we on the edge of a cliff (or a gentle decline at the very least)? Firstly, Happy New Year. I hope you are full of vim and raring to grasp 2014 by the horns. I for one have started the year considerably […]