Over £200 million worth of residential property has been sold since it became clear that the Conservatives would win the election and form the new government.
Peter Wetherell, chief executive of Wetherell said that the firm is currently processing some £29 million worth of offers that were made on Mayfair property on Friday 08 May straight after the election, which included a £26.5 million property in Mayfair.
‘I’ve had correspondence last Friday and over the weekend with some 70 clients and other property contacts and all of them have said to me that the luxury London market is now back in business, especially with the mansion tax worries now over,’ he explained.
‘Whilst stamp duty remains a significant cost on the prime London market, I believe that we will now see a wave of new luxury residential sales and new instructions coming onto the Mayfair and wider West End marketplace,’ he explained.
‘I’ve already had several clients coming onto me on Friday and over the weekend asking me to prepare launching new luxury properties into the market shortly. The next few months will be very exciting for the luxury residential market in central London,’ he added.
Gary Hersham, managing director of Beauchamp Estates said that firm is still busy finalising the multi million pound of business activity that started on Friday, most notably a £20 million pound property in the West End which exchanged on Friday.
‘We will now see property activity in prime central London return to previous levels, if not surpass them, as delayed and pent-up activities are given the green light. Property played a very influential role in this election, voters wanted economic stability and their homes safe from a mansion tax,’ he pointed out.
‘We will now see a big wave of previously pent up demand unleashed in the London housing market, which will lead to a rise in new instructions and sales across London and the Home Counties in particular, especially in the premium sector of the housing market,’ he added.
Becky Fatemi, managing director of Rokstone, revealed that the firm had exchanges and offers on prime London property worth a cool £59.7 million at the end of last week, the biggest set of deals since the rush on the day before stamp duty changes.
The activity included a £20 million penthouse in Belgravia, and a £2.2 million flat on Duke Street in Mayfair. It also had offers on £37.5 million worth of additional property consisting of a £7.1 million house in South Kensington from a Lebanese buyer, a Saudi family offered on a £2.5 million apartment in St Johns Wood, an investor made an offer on a £6 million property in Hyde Park Street, and there was an offer of £15 million on a house in Mayfair and a £7.3 million offer on a flat in Knightsbridge.
‘I think what Friday indicates is that we will now see three big waves of sales hitting the London marketplace. The first wave started on Friday and will continue this week and will consist of a stampede of end user buyers frantically pushing to get properties exchanged before vendors decide to increase asking prices as a result of the election,’ said Fatemi.
‘This week we will start to see an upward adjustment in London residential property prices and the next wave will start later this week which will consist of buy to let investors who will looking for opportunities. The third wave will hit as we reach the summer and will consist of Middle East and Asian buyers,’ she explained.
‘These three waves will push demand up by 30% over the next four months, with supply also going up by 15%. By December 2015 residential prices in prime central London will rise by 10%, so that a £1 million home in prime central London, will be worth another £100,000 by the end of this year,’ she added.
She also predicts a return of gazumping and sealed bids, and buyers will feel under pressure not just to offer a good price, but also to compete with other people now flooding into the London market.
Jake Russell, director at Chelsea estate agent Russell Simpson, revealed that the firm completed four deals on Friday worth a combined total of £50 Million. All four deals were in Chelsea and each hinged on the election result.
‘What Friday made very clear was the huge sigh of relief in households across Chelsea the day after the election. The change in mood and outlook was dramatic, we were absolutely manic on Friday and busy on Saturday,’ he said.
