The proportion of central London agents expecting price falls by the end of the year is now 39 per cent, up from just nine per cent only three months ago.
A survey by Lonres shows that 61 per cent of agents expect the level of transactions in 2014 to be lower than in 2013.
The net balance of agents have reported that, over the April-June period, stock levels, withdrawals, fall-throughs and the length of time to find a buyer all rose, while demand levels have fallen.
However, demand is still outstripping supply in what Lonres calls the lower price brackets - those below £2m. Whereas price falls were recorded for properties sold at the very top end of the market, the average sale price per square foot for properties sold under £2m rose by 4.1 per cent.
In the super-prime sector, there has been a fall in international demand, particularly from Russians - 41 per cent of agents reported Russian demand was down in the April-June period. Across the whole super-prime central London market of £10m-plus properties, there was a 5.7 per cent fall in the second quarter.
Comments
Let's not delude ourselves. Whilst there may have been a general slow down in property sales completing in the last few months. There remains a very keen desire and genuine interest for buyers in the prime & super-prime sector to continue buying properties in certain parts of London. Areas such as Mayfair, Belgravia, Knightsbridge & Chelsea are still well sought after. I deal with many different clients and overseas buyers particularly are snapping up 10M+ properties on a weekly basis. In my view, most investors who are involved in this market are extremely knowledgable. They will often engage large teams to carry out due diligence before an acquisition and I cannot see any significant change in this trend, certainly not for now.
Nigel B, Sourcing Investment - Prime London Real Estate.
+44(0) 7984114775.
Looks like the bubble is about to burst in London... We can expect prices to go down once the number of people selling outweighs the number of people buying. Oh well, it was nice while it lasted!