Foxtons post pre-tax loss of £17.2m for 2018

Turmoil continues with the London property slump that sees Foxtons posting a pre-tax loss of £17.2 million for 2018, compared with a profit of £6.5m the previous year.

This follows the dip in house prices in February of 0.1% reported by the Nationwide – Average price now £211,304.

Nic Budden, the chief executive of Foxtons, was quoted as saying: “2018 was one of the toughest sales markets we have ever had in London, with transactions falling from [the previous] year’s historically low levels.”

Foxtons negative figure is their first since they took to the stock market six years ago – The obvious blame was put towards the falling number of property being sold and the fear of prolonged downturn in London’s property market. Brexit was of course added to the cause!

Foxtons sold 2,529 properties last year which shows a 15% dip.

Robert Gardner, Nationwide’s chief economist, was reported as saying: “After almost grinding to a complete halt in January, annual house price growth remained subdued in February. Measures of consumer confidence weakened around the turn of the year and surveyors reported a further fall in new buyer inquiries over the same period.”