LIVING HELL

Something attracted my attention this week about the local property market, something I wanted to share here with my many readers who enjoy the property insider insights from our London property agency.

Over the last month, there appears to have been an anomaly in the London Property Market, whereby asking prices in the city have dropped – yet property values have increased.

The average asking price of a London property, according to Rightmove, fell 1.4% this month yet the average value of a London property rose by 0.5%.

So how does this relate in monetary terms?

This anomaly has driven the average asking price of a London property down slightly to £291,100 whilst the average value is now £274,100.

So why the difference? Technically an ‘asking price’ can be any price that a homeowner in London wants to place their property on the market for. Our team of London letting agents are well-used to advising and guiding private landlord clients in various BS postcodes.

Unfortunately, many times this is done without research, and can result in overpriced properties that don’t sell.

As the Summer months are normally slightly quieter, those left on the market wanting to sell often temper their asking prices in these months to try and generate interest in their properties for sale in London. Our letting agents in London have often noticed this trend.

On the other side of the coin, the property ‘value’ is the price that a willing buyer is prepared to pay and a willing seller is prepared to sell at.

Therefore, London property values are continuing to rise and those homeowners in London who have properties on the market, last month on average, reduced their asking prices – which is great news for property owners and property buyers in London alike!

In previous articles, I have spoken about the continued fundamental shortage of property coming onto the market compared to buyer demand for property in London.

That is especially true for homeowners in London wanting to upgrade to a better house or a better location. Our property agency in London sees this happening every week in the city.

I can appreciate London homeowners are reluctant to put their own property on the market speculatively and wait for the right property to become available, whilst some high demand locations in certain BS postcodes can suffer from a property stalemate.

Most homeowners in London don’t want to sell and have nothing to buy.

But that’s the beauty of the much-maligned English and Welsh housebuying process. You can find a purchaser for your property, then ask them to wait.

By agreeing a sale (subject to contract) before you try to buy sounds concerning to many, but with fewer properties for sale you need to have a buyer for your property or you will be treated as a less-serious house buyer in London yourself.

If you cannot find the right home, you can slow the deal with your purchaser until it comes along. This is where our property management and landlord services in London may step in.

If nothing suitable does comes along and you lose your buyer, then the worst outcome is that you have to find another purchaser or take your property off the market and stay put for now, and as long as you mention this at the start they must not commit to any costs until you have agreed your onward purchase.

However, for a private landlord or buy-to-let investor in London, these potential problems are nothing further from the truth.

As I write this article, there are over 530 flats for sale, 466 terraced houses, and over 300 semis for sale in London.

Landlords and buy-to-let property investors in London can normally pick up bargains in the Autumn months, as house sellers often have a pressing need to sell by this time of year.

The types of houses a London landlord typically buys are not the same types as the homeowners wanting to move to a posher area of the city, as they are attracted by larger semis and detached properties. Our London property agents are well aware of this trend.

The best types of properties for buy-to-let opportunities in London are the smaller flats, terraced and semis (not the big detached ones). There are too many of these smaller properties for sale – just look at the numbers of properties for sale, as mentioned in the previous paragraph.