London must have asked Santa for market stability this year, as signs point towards growing confidence in the city’s real estate market, which has been recently plagued by Brexit-fueled hesitancy, according to a report released Friday by U.K real estate consultants Knight Frank.
A 5% increase in sales volumes in the six months to November, as well as rises in viewings and transactions agreed in the rental market, are moving London towards recovery mode in December, the report said.
English Market Towns Saw Biggest Asking-Price Growth in Britain https://t.co/xHnbFezaY5 pic.twitter.com/RPRnkTEUxm
— Mansion Global (@MansionGlobal) December 23, 2017
Though average prices fell 0.7% year-on-year to December, this was the most modest rate of decline recorded since June 2016, according to the report. In mid 2016, average prices fell as much as 7%.
Properties priced between £1 million (US$1.34 million) and £2 million (US$2.68 million) saw their average prices fall 1.2% in the year to December, but homes valued between £5 million (US$6.69 million) and £10 million (US$13.38 million) rose 1.9% in the same period. Prices of ultra-luxury properties priced above £10 million remained relatively flat, falling 0.2%.
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The rental market saw a boost too, with a 19% rise in viewings between January and November 2017 versus 2016, and an increase of 14% in the number of tenancies agreed in the first 11 months of 2017, according to the report.
However, average rents in prime central London fell 2.2% year-on-year in December, Knight Frank said, and the number of new lettings coming onto the market recorded a like-for-like fall of 1.2% between January and November compared to 2016.