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London prices buck national UK downtrend
Source: Bloomberg News |
November 20, 2012, Tuesday
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LONDON home sellers increased asking prices for a third month in November as the city's wealthiest areas continued to lure overseas buyers, Rightmove Plc said yesterday.
Prices in the United Kingdom capital increased 1.2 percent to an average 483,709 pounds (US$769,600), the operator of Britain's biggest property website said in a report. Properties in the city's nine most expensive districts - where average prices exceed 600,000 pounds - surged 3.4 percent. Nationally, values fell 2.6 percent.
"The prime central London property market continues to attract wealthy foreign buyers," said Miles Shipside, commercial director of Rightmove. "This is especially true in the international property hot spots of the City of Westminster, where a Mayfair or Belgravia address is a prerequisite for the world's wealthiest. The best of London is increasingly in 'international only' reach."
London's most expensive districts are attracting buyers looking for safer investments, and luxury-home values are now 16 percent higher than their previous peak in March 2008, according to property consultant firm Knight Frank LLP. International buyers accounted for 41 percent of London houses bought for at least 1 million pounds in September.
London continues to buck the trend nationally, according to Rightmove's data. The decline in asking prices in England and Wales this month was the biggest in almost a year and left the average at 236,761 pounds. From a year earlier, national prices were up 2 percent versus an 8.8 percent gain in London.
"There's a two-speed market" and it "remains patchy," Shipside said.
The property market may be supported next year by the Bank of England's Funding for Lending program, aimed at boosting credit availability. Still, with jobless claims rising and signs emerging that the economy may contract this quarter, consumer confidence remains subdued. Governor Mervyn King offered a downbeat assessment of the economy last week, saying the outlook remains "challenging".
Prices in the United Kingdom capital increased 1.2 percent to an average 483,709 pounds (US$769,600), the operator of Britain's biggest property website said in a report. Properties in the city's nine most expensive districts - where average prices exceed 600,000 pounds - surged 3.4 percent. Nationally, values fell 2.6 percent.
"The prime central London property market continues to attract wealthy foreign buyers," said Miles Shipside, commercial director of Rightmove. "This is especially true in the international property hot spots of the City of Westminster, where a Mayfair or Belgravia address is a prerequisite for the world's wealthiest. The best of London is increasingly in 'international only' reach."
London's most expensive districts are attracting buyers looking for safer investments, and luxury-home values are now 16 percent higher than their previous peak in March 2008, according to property consultant firm Knight Frank LLP. International buyers accounted for 41 percent of London houses bought for at least 1 million pounds in September.
London continues to buck the trend nationally, according to Rightmove's data. The decline in asking prices in England and Wales this month was the biggest in almost a year and left the average at 236,761 pounds. From a year earlier, national prices were up 2 percent versus an 8.8 percent gain in London.
"There's a two-speed market" and it "remains patchy," Shipside said.
The property market may be supported next year by the Bank of England's Funding for Lending program, aimed at boosting credit availability. Still, with jobless claims rising and signs emerging that the economy may contract this quarter, consumer confidence remains subdued. Governor Mervyn King offered a downbeat assessment of the economy last week, saying the outlook remains "challenging".
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