Will the south keep its value?
Even the most staunch optimists will agree that 2008 is shaping up to be a difficult year for the housing market. Although some areas seem destined to suffer significant price falls, others appear likely to emerge relatively unscathed even if the worst happens - as we reported in our focus on prosperous pockets of the North last week.
But what is the position in the South? Prime Central London has proved relatively immune to problems within the wider property market: capital growth has been remarkably consistent, with average prices rising in all but one of the past 25 years. And, despite fears over changes to the resident non-domicile tax rules that will affect wealthy foreigners, as well as problems in the City, prime London postcodes are still performing surprisingly well. An analysis of Land Registry figures by London Central Portfolio, the property investment company, indicates that house prices, as opposed to flat prices, in Kensington, Chelsea and Westminster rose by 50 per cent in the last quarter of 2007, while flats and maisonettes grew by 16 per cent.
"The maturity of an area is a key factor, so the most established postcodes will be the best performing and the most robust," says Anne Currell, of Currell Residential, who believes that anywhere in London W1 is likely to be a fairly safe bet. The more exclusive the address, the safer you are likely to be, agents say.
"Belgravia has been perceived as the prime area of Central London property for almost two centuries," says Christopher Ames, the head of sales at the estate agent Henry & James. "The area is populated by a wide mixture of wealthy internationals. Some of these work in the City, but others have their third or fourth homes here to use for a few months of the year. Hence the area seems to survive economic blips and downturns that might affect outlying areas of London."
More Recent News
- Slight rise in volume sales for October BBC News 20 Nov. 2008 Property sales rose slightly in October, for the second month in a row, the National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA) said. Read more
- Mortgage lending rises by 7% Alex Coxall 20 Nov. 2008 Mortgage lending rose by almost 7% in October over September, suggests figures released by the Council of Mortgage Lenders today. Although this shows a move in a positive direction the figures are significantly down on the October of the previous year. Read more
- Buy-to-let trouble ahead BBC 19 Nov. 2008 Between 20% and 40% of buy-to-let (BTL) landlords will fall into negative equity if house prices keep on falling at their current rate, a report says. Read more
- RICS survey conclusions Alex Coxall 14 Nov. 2008 Transactions have slowed again during October but lead activity indicators and the headline price balance has improved, according to a survey carried out by RICS. Read more
- Nationwide predict fall into 2010 Alex Coxall 10 Nov. 2008 Graham Beale, chief executive of Nationwide is predicting that house prices will continue to fall possibly into 2010. Over all he predicts that the market will decline by 25% from its peak value to the lowest point. Read more
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