Your midweek update
Few Covid discounts for London mansions
2 minutes to read
Tracking super-prime pricing
Buyers of mansions and penthouse apartments in London are finding bargains hard to come by, writes Bloomberg this morning.
The report, based on Knight Frank data, reveals second quarter sales of homes at more than £10 million averaged 95% of asking prices. That’s the smallest discount since the end of 2016.
Paddy Dring, Knight Frank's global head of prime sales, says the market has hardened due to pent-up demand and a shortage of supply.
The political pressure cooker
The papers this morning paint a political pressure cooker for the PM.
Labour leader Keir Starmer's calls for a “circuit breaker” lockdown leads the front of several papers and the brinkmanship in Brexit negotiations continues with two days until the PM's self-imposed deadline to abandon the talks.
That all comes a day after the ONS published data showing an increase in unemployment to 4.5 per cent for the June-to-August period. That was somewhat offset this morning by new data revealing the number of payrolled workers rose for the first time since the pandemic, job vacancies increased at a record rate, total hours increased and average pay growth stopped falling.
Build-to-Rent: coming to a town near you
Oliver Knight's deep dive into the state of the UK's Build-to-Rent market continues this morning with a look at the pipeline.
The data reveals there are nearly double the number of BTR homes in the development process than are currently complete. Investors are increasingly recognising the potential for development in smaller cities with strong fundamentals, as well as strategic locations such as commuter towns with good transport links to major cities, such as Milton Keynes and Guildford.
In total, more than 60% of the BTR homes in large schemes either under construction or with planning granted will be built outside of London.
In focus: London and the south east
Our analysis this morning focusses on some of the UK's most active property markets in London and the south east.
First, Anna Ward takes a closer look at what the future holds for Newham, which has become a magnet for regeneration in the wake of the 2012 Olympics. House prices there have risen 30% in five years and the number of young people moving to the borough has increased almost a quarter since 2015.
Then in a new agent's diary, Chris Druce speaks to Alex Robinson, part of Knight Frank’s Private Office and Tim Harriss, office head in Guildford. Chris finds space to live remains a key driver for prospective buyers; although there’s a growing urgency to get deals done.
In other news...
Minister eyes raising housing deposits from pension savings; groundscrapers, sidescrapers and landscrapers; Manhattan emptied out during the pandemic, but Big Tech is moving in; City of London creates a virtual reality map to aid office development; two Covid-19 drug trials halted on safety concerns; and finally Australian home prices may rebound on low rates, easy credit.