How Many £1M+ Homes Sold in Your Area Last Year?

How many £1m+ homes sold in your area last year?

There were more than 1,000 fewer homes sold for £1m or more in 2016
compared to the year before.
Across England and Wales, there were 14,999 £1m or more sales,
including 3,039 £2m or more sales in 2016.
However, fewer properties sold for these high prices in 2016 compared
to 2015, with an 8% fall in the number of homes sold for £1m or more,
down from 16,267 in 2015, and a 7% fall in £2m or more sales, down
from 3,255 in 2015.

While some of the fall may be due to sales at the end of 2016 still
needing to be registered with the Land Registry, the size of the drop
suggests people are less keen to shell out for top price properties in
2016.
However, the number of £2m+ sales in England and Wales has more than
doubled in five years, from 1,795 in 2012. The number of properties
selling for £1m or more across England and Wales was up by 85% over
five years, from 8,095 in 2012.
Of properties bought for £1m or more, three-fifths (61.8%) were in
London, 9,272 sales, down from 66.1% in 2015. This is the lowest
proportion since 60.9% in 2010, suggesting the prime market in London
is particularly feeling the squeeze.
This was followed by a fifth (22.3%) in the South East, up from 21.1%
in 2015, and 7.5% in the East of England, up from 6% in 2015. Just
0.1% or 22 sales were in the North East, and 0.2%, or 24 sales, were
in Wales.
Sales of properties for £2m or more were even more concentrated in
London, with more than three-quarters (78.6%), 2,388 sales, in the
capital, down from 82% in 2015. This was followed by 13% in the South
East, up from 12.6%, and 3.5% in the East, up from 2.4%.
There were just 34 sales of properties for more than £2m in 2014
across the whole of the East Midlands, North East, Wales, West
Midlands and Yorkshire and the Humber.

The data from the Land Registry includes information on all
residential property sales in England and Wales that are sold for full
market value and registered with the Land Registry, as well as some
sales that are repossessions, bought through companies or with buy to
let mortgages.
The most expensive sale registered with the Land Registry in 2016 was
for £40.5m and was 33 Grosvenor Square in Westminster.

The 10 most expensive sales in 2016 (according to the Land Registry)
Address // District // Price
33 GROSVENOR STREET, LONDON, W1K 4QU // CITY OF WESTMINSTER // £40,500,000
ASHCOMBE HOUSE, 23A EATON SQUARE, LONDON, SW1W 9DE // CITY OF
WESTMINSTER // £30,000,000
APARTMENT 1, 5 PRINCES GATE, LONDON, SW7 1QJ // CITY OF WESTMINSTER //
£28,500,000
3 CAVENDISH SQUARE, LONDON, W1G 0LB // CITY OF WESTMINSTER // £27,000,000
56 HOLLAND GREEN PLACE, LONDON, W8 6AX // KENSINGTON AND CHELSEA // £26,800,000
112 EATON SQUARE, LONDON, SW1W 9AE // CITY OF WESTMINSTER // £25,500,000
16 AVENUE ROAD, LONDON, NW8 6BP // CAMDEN // £24,850,000
60 ADDISON ROAD, LONDON, W14 8JJ // KENSINGTON AND CHELSEA // £24,000,000
APARTMENT 4, 7 CAMBRIDGE GATE, LONDON, NW1 4JX // CAMDEN // £21,000,000
8 ABBOTSBURY ROAD, LONDON, W14 8EJ // KENSINGTON AND CHELSEA // £20,500,000

Are house hunters superstitious about the number 13?

Are house hunters superstitious about the number 13?
There were 9,674 homes sold in England and Wales last year at the number 13.
This compared to 16,318 at number 12 and 14,986 at number 14.
The general trend around the country was the lower the house number,
the higher the number of sales – so houses at number one had the most
sales, followed by number two, then three and so on.
Based on this trend we would expect somewhere between 14,986 and
16,318 house sales at number 13.
The actual total of 9,674 was therefore significantly less than we would expect.
In fact you were more likely to buy a house at numbers 14 to 25 than
number 13 in England and Wales last year.
Homes at number 13 were also slightly cheaper on average than those
either side of them.
The average property at number 13 sold for £195,998 in England and
Wales in 2016, compared to £202,000 for numbers 12 and 14.
This analysis only included homes with just a road number, meaning it
excluded houses with names, flat number 13 and homes at 13a or 13b.
The number 13 is widely thought to be unlucky in the West. The
scientific term for the belief is triskaidekaphobia.
It’s not certain where the superstition came from. One theory is that
the belief stems from the New Testament account of Jesus eating the
Last Supper with his 12 disciples before Judas betrayed him.
On the other hand, the number four is thought by many to be unlucky in
much of East Asia because it sounds similar to ‘death’ and related
words when pronounced in many of the languages in the region,
including Mandarin Chinese and Korean.

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Uk Property 2016

Britain’s housing market has “hit the ground running” in 2016 said Rightmove, a property listings website, in its house price index for January. The average house price reached £299,287 after rising 2.9% over the month. Rightmove also said there was a 5% increase in the number of properties coming onto the market during January, and a 10% rise in the supply of typical first-time buyer homes, which have two bedrooms or fewer.

House prices rose sharply in recent years for a number of reasons. In some areas of the country, particularly London and the South East of England, there is a serious shortage of housing supply. Other areas were recovering from a low base after the financial crash, with property prices only reaching their pre-crisis peaks again in 2014. A healing domestic economy, high employment and low interest rates have fueled demand for home purchases.

“The new year’s market has hit the ground running in many locations, continuing last year’s momentum and resulting in the price of property coming to the market hitting a new high,” said Miles Shipside, director of Rightmove. “Many agents reported high numbers of sales in November and December and properties selling more quickly, so it’s encouraging to see signs of replenishment of property, especially in the first-time buyer sector.

“However, in spite of the apparent veneer of market buoyancy, those thinking of putting their property up for sale need to avoid being too optimistic with their initial asking price, as most buyers are still understandably being very selective about their future home.”

The government has introduced a number of policies focused on helping first-time buyers onto the property ladder. It has made increasing the home ownership rate a priority. High house prices are shutting many aspiring home owners out of the market because they cannot save a large enough deposit, or secure a sufficient mortgage, despite the low interest rates, because they do not earn enough. Among the government’s offerings for first-time buyers is the Help to Buy scheme.

Under Help to Buy, first-time buyers can get a mortgage guarantee from the Treasury, an interest-free loan from the government worth up to 40% of a property’s value, or an ISA topped up with public money. Other government schemes include starter homes, which offer first-time buyers under 40 a discounted new-build property, plus shared ownership, which enables people to buy a percentage of a property and rent what they do not own.

Adam Ellis of Prime Property Finders, a London and South East England search agent is receiving more inquiries from first time buyers, who have waited so long to get onto the housing ladder that they just want to make the right decision. Using a home finder or house hunter as we are sometimes called, is not just the preserve of the very wealthy, as using a search agent will often help clients gain access to the best properties first, and can eliminate completion and bidding wars. This said, the fee paid to a search agent is small compared to the discounts that can be gained plus the saving of time and heartache.

 

bluebell wood kent

Best commutable to London

Where are the best villages, towns and small cities which are a pleasure to live in, but still offer a decent commute to the capital.

 

For those who don’t want to live in London, commuting is a necessary evil. Dinner parties in town are set alight on the topic, for which the shorthand is ‘doing the BM’ (the Big Move). ‘These days, when both parents often work, the move to the country is more complicated. School runs can get complicated with both parents working and doing long commutes.

The good news is that it’s perfectly possible to find rural (and cultural) idylls within an hour’s radius of a London terminus. I have picked out some of the most attractive and convivial villages, towns and small cities that boast a fast and regular train service to the capital – that is, a choice of more than two trains taking less than an hour between 7am and 8am on weekdays – or amenities that simply can’t be beaten.

We’ve taken on board an assumption that no one wants to drive for much more than 15 minutes from home to the station and have only included places that aren’t just commuter dormitories, but which boast enough of a community spirit to support a village shop. Season-ticket prices are for the journey to the London terminus only and are for standard travel (some routes have high-speed services that attract a higher rate).

The best places to live near London: Surrey

Discover the charm of Haslemere, Farnham, Chobham, Dunsfold, Windlesham, Frensham and Shamley Green.

The best places to live near London: West Sussex

Lindfield and Lurgashall offer a commuter idyll.

The best places to live near London: Kent

We delight in Langton Green, Cranbrook, Aldington, Penshurst, Westerham and Otford.

The best places to live near London: Essex

There is much to enjoy in Great Waltham, Stock, Terling, Earls Colne, Saffron Walden and Clavering.

The best places to live near London: Suffolk

East Bergholt and Nayland boast the best amenities here.

The best places to live near London: Cambridgeshire

Discover the charm of Grantchester, Cambridge and Brampton.

The best places to live near London: Hertfordshire

Much Hadham, Barley, Ashwell, Harpenden and Aldbury offer a commuter idyll.

The best places to live near London: Warwickshire

We adore Dunchurch.

The best places to live in Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire

We delight in Amersham, Long Crendon and Haddenham.

The best places to live near London: Oxfordshire

Sutton Courtney, Dorchester-on-Thames, Henley-on-Thames, Sonning, Stratton Audley, Great Milton, Hethe and Blewbury are the dream locations in this county.

The best places to live near London: Berkshire

There is much to enjoy in Bucklebury, Bray, and Yattendon.

The best places to live near London: Hampshire

Overton, Winchester and Kingsclere offer a commutable country lifestyle.

 

For help finding the right balance on the big move Adam Ellis at Prime Property Finders is the smart move, with personal bespoke service and help all the way.

Finding the right property finder is paramount and a series of meetings, if possible, is a must to dig down into all the likes and dislikes one may have, enabling all involved to have a clear brief.

We are called many things such as home finders, property search agents, relocation agents and property finders.

Specifics to area are common too such as relocation surrey, property finder London or relocation agents London.

Anywhere in London and the South East is covered and at request other areas are considered, as my network of contacts stretches from Scotland to Cornwall and beyond.

This can be way beyond often as I have access to off market hotels around the world too!

 

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Active Start to 2016

An active start to 2016 has been found with the price of property coming to market up 0.5%, the second highest Christmas/New Year period since 2007.

Rightmove have seen demand surge with visits up 21% in the first working week of 2016 compared to he same period in 2015.

Good news for first -time buyers with a 6.6% year-on-year increase in the number of fresh-to-the-market homes in their target sector of two bedrooms or fewer, the highest since 2007.

Prime Property Finders have received a healthy demand from UK based and overseas clients over the Christmas and New Year period. As search agents in London and the South East we have had enquiries for central London relocation and purchases in the Chelsea, Kensington and Battersea areas. The ever popular Surrey home search is continuing with clients looking to purchase main and second homes in Guildford and Godalming areas where prime housing stock is rare and snapped up quickly.

Requests for relocating to Kent is surging as I predicted some 12-18 months ago. We have found clients keen on Bromley with the fast commute, including Bickley and Chislehurst and out to Sevenoaks. Deeper into Kent demand for quality country living is rising fast around the catchment area of Cranbrook school, and within close proximity of Canterbury with its excellent schools and fast commute to London.

If you would like help relocating to London or the Home Counties please contact Adam at Prime Property Finders for a no obligation chat about your purchase, rental or investment.

residential

Buy a home in minutes!

How long do you think that it takes to make a decision to buy a home? According to a new survey, it takes just 53 minutes to make what is for many their biggest ever-financial decision in the UK.

In fact 12 months, ago it was reported viewing time prior to offer being even less – a mere 38 minutes.

Some 6% of UK buyers are rushing to submit an offer after just one viewing, whereas the majority of buyers (53%) return for that all-important second viewing. The 41% remaining view a property more than twice.

In London, where property prices are drastically higher, the majority of buyers (39%) return for a third viewing, taking for the large part (37%) between 21 and 30 minutes to view a property.

Although demand is still high in a number of areas throughout the UK, particularly London and the surrounding areas, the market isn’t quite as competitive as it has been in previous years, hence potential buyers are opting for a second or third viewing before committing to a property.

Adam Ellis from primepropertyfinders.co.uk says ‘with the enormity of such a decision for most purchasers, why are most conducting a purchase by themselves and not gaining insider knowledge and expertise from a property search agent?’ This service is common in the United States and increasingly so in parts of the UK, namely London and Home Counties, plus scattered pockets throughout the UK in property hot spots and affluent areas.

Choose carefully and the fee for a finding agent can pay dividends by eliminating competition, gaining access to property not even listed on the open market (off market property) and using their skills of negotiation together with local market research can deliver a substantial saving beyond the outlay.

The short viewing times highlight the speed the market can move at in areas where demand is still outstripping supply. It was also found was that 67% of prospective buyers read the full property description, with only 59% looking at comparable properties listed in the area.

A total of 56% said they checked out the road on Google street view, while 49% looked into local amenities, employment and infrastructure.

As house prices are set to rise more than a fifth in the next five years, with the largest increases in London and the South East according to Savills research. This news may increase the caution and time taken to view and evaluate a potential purchase, or could increase the urgency to buy and push up the figures of the 6% of whom view and offer in minutes.

Data from emoov.co.uk & what mortgage.

 

 

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Rental Trends

 

Demand from tenants is at an all time high. Many renters now share houses and flats in order to save a deposit for a purchase, which is understandably more common in London. 2015 ended with a 3.8% annual increase in asking rents outside London with the East of England leading with a 6.5% rise. London saw more modest growth of 0.5% possibly due to affordability for the most part. Renters are likely to see an injection of supply, as investors rush to complete sales before the stamp duty hike in April.
Stamp Duty to pay is as follows:

Purchase price of property Rate of Stamp Duty Buy to Let/Additional Home Rate (from April 2016)
£0 – £125,000 0% 3%
£125,001 – £250,000 2% 5%
£250,001 – £925,000 5% 8%
£925,001 – £1.5 million 10% 13%

 

This could act as a double-edged sword, as after the initial injection of properties to the market, a sudden slow down may follow, pushing rents up.

 

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Number UK homes worth £1million.

The number of home owners in Britain whose property is worth £1 million or more has increased by 75,796 or 14% since January, according to the latest research.
This 14% rise over the past year takes the total number of British so called property millionaires to 622,939, and means that 2.2% of all home owners have a property worth £1 million or more, up 1.9% over the past year.

Of these million pound home some 82% are situated in London and the South East, a breakdown of the data from property website Zoopla shows. But Wales has the fewest and the number in Scotland have fallen by 4.5%.

London, long the nation’s property powerhouse, has once again dominated the property millionaire league, with well over half (61%) of Britain’s million-pound piles located in the capital. In total, 380,337 homes in the city are now above the million-pound threshold, marking a 33,871 – or 10% increase – since the start of the year.

Within London the boroughs with the highest number of property millionaires are notoriously expensive areas such as Westminster with 51,607 and Kensington and Chelsea with 44,972 but they have seen the smallest rise in £1 million plus properties of any borough over the past year, up just 0.9% and 0.6% respectively.

Meanwhile, the boroughs that experienced the greatest increases of over 55% are within the top 10 lowest average priced boroughs in London including Barking and Dagenham, Newham, Redbridge and Waltham Forest,

Outside of London, the East of England and Yorkshire and the Humber saw the largest increases of million pound properties, up 28% and 24% respectively since January.

At the other end of the spectrum, Wales has the fewest million pound properties in Britain with only 1,404 in total despite, an 11% rise since January. Scotland was the only country to see a decrease in number of million pound homes in 2015, falling 4.5% to below 9,000 since the start of the year.

Areas such as the East of England and Yorkshire have seen bigger percentage rises in the numbers of property millionaires over the last 12 months compared with the south which typically dominates each year.

However the number of properties valued at more than £1 million in the south still outweigh the rest of Britain boosted by wealthy hotspots such as Kensington and Chelsea and Westminster.

With an improving economy and the ongoing lack of housing supply, this continues to put upward pressure on house prices at all levels of the market and has nudged a whole new raft of properties over the £1 million mark. A price tag that was once the exclusive preserve of stately homes or massive mansions is now an increasingly common label for more modest houses, particularly in London.

If you are looking to purchase or rent a property in London and the South East contact Prime Property Finders the home finding specialists.

Sources. Property Wire, Zoopla.

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The All New Prime Property Finders

Prime Property Finders have recently rebranded and will be launching a new website in November 2015. This signifies the start of some big changes within the company, as we build the team into 2016. (more…)