Knight Frank: “buyers seek outdoor space and greenery”

Knight Frank’s latest prime London sales and prime London lettings data:

Key highlights:

Sales:

· Property prices in prime outer London rise as more buyers seek outdoor space and greenery

– Prices rose 0.9% in prime outer London in the three months to October, which was the highest such rise in five years. The largest quarterly rises in London took place in Belsize Park (3.2%), Dulwich (2.3%), Wandsworth (2.1%) and Wimbledon (1.8%).

– Marmora Road in Dulwich (attached), is one example of a property currently on the market with stunning outdoor space and greenery.

· October was the third highest month in five years for exchanges in London, as a result of the post-lockdown surge

However this surge should be seen in the context of a market that has behaved erratically over the course of this year. The overall number of exchanges was 19% down in the first ten months of the year compared to 2019

Tom Bill, Head of UK Residential Research at Knight Frank commented, “A second national lockdown in England is unlikely to impact the prime London property market as the first one did. The property market will remain open during the month-long lockdown and momentum generated since the market re-opened in May will drive deal activity into Q1 next year.”

Lettings:

· High levels of supply have continued to put downwards pressure on rental values

– In prime central London, average rental values declined 9.1% in the year to October, compared to 7.6% in prime outer London

· Supply has increased due to the addition of short-term lettings properties coming onto the market

– More owners have decided to let rather than sell due to uncertainty surrounding the trajectory of prices as the impact of Covid-19 on the economy becomes clearer. However, this trend has been less marked in more suburban areas with outdoor space, where prices have been more robust

Gary Hall, Head of Lettings at Knight Frank commented, “If you exclude south-west London, supply levels are currently 20% above where we would normally expect them to be at this time of year. That has come down from a figure of around 40% earlier this year. Rents are still falling and the properties that are letting are where the price has been reduced.”