BREAKING NEWS – top 5 stories 13/04/2021

STEPHEN MURPHY NAMED AS NEW CHAIR OF BOOMIN

The C-suite of Boomin looks like it has gained a major coup with the appointment of Stephen Murphy (Ex-CEO Virgin), and there is also news of a £25M funding round. Both of these factors clearly show that Boomin is very much in it for the long haul, all which comes less than a fortnight after their official launch on the 2^nd of April.

THOUGH OFFICIALLY THE UK ECONOMY HAS SHRUNK – HOUSING STILL GOING STRONG

Economic indicators given by the Office for National Statistics show that the economy shrank by nearly 8% comparing February 2020 to February 2021. Clearly not a good headline figure. The property market though is of course at present bucking that trend.

LONDON SUPER PRIME MARKET ROARS AHEAD IN IT IS OFFICIAL

Recent statistics show that despite the pandemic, lockdown, the inability for non-domiciles to fly into the UK to buy, London still led the world in the number of properties sold above the £7M price tag.

With just over 200 of such sales, it outpaced Hong Kong which only managed around 170 sales. The big question will be in 2021 which way will this market perform? Many pundits feel that the super-rich, have not really been touched by the pandemic, and with many in tech related verticals they are personally seeing a boom time in their earnings and ability to buy big ticket items.

AVERAGE HOUSE PRICE IN MARCH HITS NEW HIGH OF £254,606

Figures just released show that the average house increased again by over 1% in March, which now means that on average a typical property is worth over a quarter of a million pounds.

FEWER RENTAL PROPERTIES CHANGED HANDS IN 2020

Unsurprisingly, 2020 was a record year for the fewest number of rental properties sold, clearly the lockdowns, rent arrears and lack of court action effectively meant that even if some landlords wished to sell their inventory 2020 was not the year.

Records show that around 130,000 rental properties got sold last year, the lowest number for eight years. Though of course with rising rents maybe some landlords are thinking that holding on may be a better gambit than selling and paying the tax if the exit the market.

If you have a view – please let us all know by emailing me at [email protected] – Andrew Stanton Executive Editor – moving property and proptech forward.