marsh and parsons pimlico crush independent agents

Tue, 16 Feb 2010 20:54:17 +0000

Market conditions are very subdued at the moment, the steam having been kicked out of it by the corporate agents in their desperation crushing smaller independent agents; it seems at any cost. Reputation for these companies is no longer a byword, gazumping is back, even if this means doing back door deals viewings, are now commonplace. Again, estate agents are getting tarred by the appalling conduct of others. Trust and reputation are huge factors in this business and slipshod underhand practices are severely affecting tenants who can offer on a property, have impeccable references, and be accepted by the landlord, organise move-in, and be scotched by the bully-boy tactics of other agents who have no relationship with them.
Decent one bedroom flats are not available for rental, the applicants are getting a little worried, if supply doesn’t increase by the end of February, prices and yields will rise.
Wilton Road, Pimlico is seeing quite a rejuvenation in terms of cafes and restaurants (Pimlico Fresh, Patisserie Valerie and Conran’s Albion cafe) although Westminster City Council seems to be quite happy with the general air of neglect that will not bring more quality business into the area with broken pavements, druggies outside the Warwick Way chemist for their methadone, broken street lighting for months, abandoned cars, panhandlers and scrapping schoolchildren.

Pimlico house flat price surge above peak of 2007

Wed, 13 Jan 2010 14:10:28 +0000

‘Bonus belt’ central London house prices jump 51% to conquer peak of 2007

House prices in a swathe of central London including Pimlico have now soared past the “peak” of summer 2007.
An analysis of sales of 4,000 houses and 5,500 flats across the “bonus belt” favoured by City and international buyers shows how values have recovered rather dramatically in the past year.
In December many houses were selling for record prices, having shot up by 51 per cent from their lowest point in February last year, the survey by agents John D Wood has found.
On average they are now three per cent above the highs seen in Pimlico.
However, the phenomenon is not limited to the “prime” central London market but has also been seen in areas such as Hammersmith and Battersea.
Alexis Ochoa, Director of ffields “After one of the worst financial turmoil in recent memory the central London house market has bounced back strongly and, remarkably, exceeded the previous high. Even outlying areas such as Hammersmith are seeing very strong demand, as witnessed by a ground floor flat in Overstone Road in Hammersmith that went under offer in less than a week.
The weakness of sterling has meant we have had an influx of foreigners which has galvanised the domestic market and forced buyers to compete over the limited number of properties available.”
With the limited supply of houses we can foresee prices continuing to increase over the next few months in Westminster and Pimlico.
In Pimlico the best flats are now achieving prices equal to, or in excess of, levels at the peak of the market.”
Alexi further added that demand for the best properties was pushing up prices to new all-time highs, even outside the hot spots.
Earlier this month the company sold a two-bedroom flat in Hammersmith Grove for £407,000 that had “only” fetched £373,000 in February 2007.
The recovery since the collapse of Lehman Brothers bank in Canary Wharf in the autumn of 2008 has been so strong that some property experts fear a new “bubble” that could end in a second crash.
Neil Stephens, head of mortgages at brokers Welbeck Consulting, said: “Borrowers in London and the South-East will come out of negative equity faster than the rest of the UK and with incomes rising at a time when base rates and mortgage costs are so low, it means a house price bubble is inevitable.”
A London pad is still a must have for wealthy
It is as if the City's near death experience never happened. Staggeringly, today's analysis from John D Wood suggests that it has taken only 30 months for parts of the London property market to bounce back to the super-heated levels seen on the eve on the credit crunch.
In the last recession it took six or seven years for London prices to make up the lost ground from the 1989 peak — even in nominal terms.
Taking inflation into account it was closer to a decade. Indeed research from Savills suggest that nationally prices actually fell 14 per cent in real terms in the Nineties.
So why so different this time and can it last? The V-shaped recovery is partly a reflection of the massively increased global status of 21st century London compared with 20 years ago.
A spectacular London pad remains, despite everything, one of the “must haves” for most of the world's wealthiest people.
In stark contrast to the last recession, interest rates remain spectacularly low.
As well as reducing the cost of borrowing it makes bricks and mortar a much more attractive home for surplus cash than a bank account offering a one per cent interest. The weakness of sterling has also played a big role.
Although many pundits suggest that prices will continue to rise steadily in the next year or two, there are also good reasons to be nervous.
This year is likely to be a reality check when a slow economic recovery is held back by rising taxes, continuing high unemployment and the possibility of rising interest rates.
If the City Cassandras are right about the exodus of disillusioned bankers there may be a glut of trophy homes on the market. Anecdotal evidence is emerging that large city banks are decanting their high earners to Zurich.
Although pundits suggest prices will continue to rise, there are good reasons to be nervous!

ffields pimlico update

Wed, 16 Dec 2009 10:39:28 +0000

The recent pick up in the housing market led to the first fall in the number of new properties available to rent since January 2008, according to the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.
New instructions during the three months to the end of October were at their lowest level since the survey was first launched in 1998, with 11pc more surveyors reporting a fall than those who saw a rise.
But the low level of available properties, probably triggered by so-called accidental landlords now being able to sell their homes rather than having to let them out, boosted surveyors' optimism for the first time since July 2008.
Around 22pc more surveyors said they expected rents to rise during the coming three months than those who expect further falls.
A balance of just 4pc of surveyors reported falling rents during the three months, suggesting the downward pressure that had been caused by the imbalance of supply and demand is already beginning to ease.
In London and the North the majority of surveyors are already reporting seeing rent rises.
Meanwhile, demand for rented property continued to increase, with 16pc more surveyors reporting a rise, with demand for houses particularly strong.
RICS spokesman Jeremy Leaf said: "It seems the current upward trend in the housing market is having a more significant effect on the lettings market, with many of the accidental landlords returning to the sales market to take advantage of the recent price increases.
"As a result the recent oversupply is reversing, with new instructions at the lowest levels we have seen. This of course is impacting on prices and tenants no longer have as strong a bargaining power as they did."

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two tier pimlico property mortgage market

Fri, 11 Dec 2009 10:17:03 +0000

The number of mortgages taken out to buy a home rose to the highest level for almost two years in October as the housing market continued to rally.
The Council of Mortgage Lenders said that 55,000 mortgages were taken out for purchases in October, the highest monthly total since December 2007. The figure is more than double the January 2009 low of 23,000 and is a 9 per cent rise on the previous month.
The number of home loans advanced to remortgage borrowers and first-time buyers remained unchanged between September and October. However, the figures were viewed as a sign that low interest rates for those with large deposits, together with recent house price rises, are encouraging those who are able to move to take advantage of the favourable market conditions.
The number of loans to home movers — a group that does not include first-time buyers — rose by 15 per cent between September and October, with the bulk of borrowers opting for tracker mortgages as evidence grows that interest rates are set to remain low for the long term.

October mortgage lending rises 5 per cent

Mortgage and housebuilding figures offer hope

Michael Coogan, director-general of the Council of Mortgage Lenders, said: “We are still in a two-speed mortgage market. It appears that low interest rates for those with substantial deposits, coupled with this year’s sustained increases in house prices, are encouraging more people to buy or move.
“But the same low rates that are driving house price activity provide little incentive for borrowers to refinance their loans. This, coupled with tightness in lending criteria, continues to hold back the remortgage market.”
The increase in demand has yet to encourage housebuilders to build more homes. Official construction figures published separately yesterday showed a 1 per cent fall in private housing orders in the three months to October 2009 compared with a year earlier.
The figures, from the Office for National Statistics, showed that this has been offset by a 10 per cent rise in social housing construction over the period, compared with the same quarter in 2008, as the Government brought forward more money for investment in affordable houses.
Construction orders for public and private housing and for private industrial and commercial building, all increased in September and October, while housing orders were up 5 per cent on the previous quarter. Infrastructure and other public construction orders showed signs of slipping, down from £668 million to £564 million and from £870 million to £502 million respectively over the month.
These figures will be interpreted as a sign that public spending cuts are already beginning to bite. Private commercial building of shops and offices rose from £598 million in September to £763 million in October, according to provisional calculations.
Simon Rubinsohn, chief economist at the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, said: “This hard-pressed sector does at last appear to be stabilising after a 15 per cent drop in output. The latest numbers point to a firmer tone to orders in the residential arena.
“Private commercial orders also rose surprisingly strongly, climbing to their best level in a year. While this could be a reflection of more positive news flow emerging from the commercial property market, we would be cautious about reading too much into one month’s numbers.”

house price increase faltering

Mon, 30 Nov 2009 11:46:29 +0000

The average cost of a home in England and Wales increased by 0.2% in November to stand at £156,700, according to housing intelligence group Hometrack.
But the group said the recovery had been driven by rising demand, and it warned that there were signs the rush of potential buyers coming to the market was beginning to falter.

Martin Lewis gives his top mortgage tips
Estate agents reported only a 0.1% rise in the number of new buyers registered on their books during November, and demand is expected to drop off further in the run up to Christmas.
Richard Donnell, director of research at Hometrack, said: ''The pick up in market activity over 2009 has been driven by rising demand yet the latest survey shows that new buyer registrations grew by just 0.1% in November, the lowest level since the start of the year.
''A decline in demand is inevitable in the run up to Christmas but there are signs that the upward pressure on prices is likely to decline in the months ahead.''
He added that the recent pick up in prices and activity had not been seen across the whole country.
He said: ''The stark reality is that there are large swathes of the country where prices have remained unchanged or have seen continued price falls.''
Prices rose by 0.4% in London during November and by 0.3% in the South West, but all other regions saw gains of just 0.1% or no change. Overall, only 17.6% of postcode areas saw increases during the month.
The group said prices were now higher than they had been six months ago across only 37% of the country, with London and the South East most likely to have postcode areas where prices were now higher at 78% and 50% respectively.
But prices have recovered in fewer than a fifth of postcode areas in the East Midlands, Wales, Yorkshire and the Humber and the North during the past six months.
Property values are now an average of 2.9% lower than they were a year ago across England and Wales, with prices higher in just 2% of postcodes.
The percentage of their asking price that sellers are achieving rose again during November to 93.2%, but the average time a property is taking to sell has stalled at 8.4 weeks, after falling for the past nine months.
Mr Donnell said: ''Further price rises could well result in an increase in the time to sell as stronger pricing meets greater resistance from would-be buyers whose numbers are also growing more slowly.
''The net result is likely to be less upward pressure on prices in the months ahead.''