Million pound transactions: where, who and for how much?
Fri 04 Sep 2020
Paul Bennett, Director
The sale of properties in London worth a million pounds or more has continued throughout lockdown, despite a myriad of restrictions. To highlight how the city’s prime and super-prime markets can prove robust, mortgage broker Enness Global analysed figures to find out what postcodes remained in demand and how much properties were selling for.
Already more than 1,348 sales where the property’s sold value was in excess of £1 million were completed in London at the time of the report’s publication in early September 2020, with ten London postcodes seeing average transaction values of more than £10 million.
Behr & Butchoff wasn’t surprised to see a number of the postcodes we serve appear on the list. NW3 was identified as a prime property hot spot, with more than 92 £1 million+ value transactions already taking place in 2020.
We were particularly pleased to see Marylebone (W1G) get a welcome nod, with an average sold price of £8.1 million, and Mayfair (W1K) topping that with an average sold price of £9.2 million. We must also mention East Finchley, with its N2 postcode ranking as the top in terms of transactional value, with an average sold price of £23.5 million.
The above statistics come off the back of a report by Coutts in July 2020, which indicated an improving outlook for the upper end of London property market. It cited ‘relatively attractive levels of Sterling for global investors, which make London property look cheap in Dollar and Euro terms, and the ultra-low interest rate structure worldwide’ as key positive factors moving forwards.
The private bank and wealth manager also highlighted how only a third of prime properties are currently being sold at a discounted price – a record low since Coutts started monitoring this aspect of the market in 2016.
Here at Behr & Butchoff in St. John’s Wood, we have noticed that the stamp duty holiday, which applies to properties of any value (subject to completion before 31st March 2021), has galvanized prime-London property buyers into action – attracted by a saving of £15,000.
It is news that has travelled far, with international buyers coming from all corners of the globe - including Hong Kong, UAE, USA, India, Singapore and Italy – to take advantage of the discount, which when combined with currency advantages is creating some attractive investment opportunities. We also expect momentum to build ahead of a very important deadline. As of April 2021, overseas buyers will face an additional 2% stamp duty land tax, so the Behr & Butchoff team will be busy matching buyers and completing on properties before this new levy takes effect.
If you have a property that falls into the ‘prime Central London’ bracket and would like to explore the option of selling, contact us today.