London’s Super Prime Market Sales Soared in 2018
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London’s super prime residential real estate more than held its own against the overall Brexit-plagued market last year, according to a report Thursday from Savills.

The exclusive portion of the market where properties cost more than £15 million (US$19.5 million) saw transactions soar 43.1% in 2018 compared to 2017, data from the U.K. real estate agency show.

The high-end transactions translated to a total sales volume of almost £2 billion, up 41.2% from 2017 and the highest figure since 2014, when the government introduced its new stamp duty rates resulting in much higher transaction costs at the top end of the market.

Driving the increases are the relative bargains that can now be found in the prime London market.

Some of the most expensive boroughs in London, dogged by political uncertainty, are seeing prices plummet, according to a report Monday from estate agency Your Move.

Kensington and Chelsea, the most expensive borough in London where the average price in December was £1.7 million, saw prices drop more than a fifth in 12 months, down 21.2% from £2.25 million in December 2017.

The capital has carried the brunt of the U.K.’s Brexit wariness, unsurprisingly, given the influence of immigration and overseas buyers on the market.

“The price falls we’ve seen in the central London market, when combined with the depreciation of sterling, means the trophy properties of central London look relatively good value in an international context,” Lucian Cook, head of residential research at Savills, said in the report.

“Despite the backdrop of political uncertainty and a less welcoming tax environment, these figures are clear evidence that London remains an attractive place for a growing pool of international high net worth individuals to live and conduct business,” he added.

Values in prime central London peaked in June 2014 and have since fallen by 19.4%, with a 4.1% fall in 2018, Savills said.

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Issue 324 : Jan 2025