Buyers anxious to beat the bonus money rush (article by propertytalk live)

Homebuyers in Central London are moving quickly to find and secure properties before bonus buyers hit the market and competition for the best quality property heightens.

There has been a flurry of activity during the first two weeks of January, as buyers who started to look at the end of last year return to the market, keen to secure a home before cash-rich bankers are in a position to proceed with purchases.

According to Cluttons values of quality property in prime Central London continue to perform well, ensuring it remains an attractive, relatively low-risk investment during the downturn.

James Hyman, Partner for Residential Sales at property consultants Cluttons, said:

"It looks like big bonuses will be paid this year despite the Government's failed attempts to intervene in the case of the state owned banks. Bankers are already starting to look for property ahead of their bonuses being paid, and buyers know it will only be a few weeks before this cash starts flooding into the market, creating fiercer competition and forcing sales to sealed bids.

"The first quarter of this year will offer the best window of opportunity for sellers, as buyers spending upwards of £1million will be keen to avoid the additional 1% rise in stamp duty tax coming into force in April, which will take their stamp duty bill to 5%. The limited amount of property for sale also presents excellent opportunities for sellers over the next few months."

New Year, New resolutions, more property

Happy New Year to those following this blog! It has been a difficult end of 2010 for the London property market, but thankfully the year is over, and it looks like more and more people are looking ahead now with optimism.

Despite the budget cuts that will start biting this year and the increase in interest rates that we will see for sure, the real economy is rebalancing and businesses in London seem to think that 2011 will be still difficult, but better thant 2010.

We are seeing increases of about 15% on our available stock of property for Sale at Outlet, enquiries are still weak but it looks like more buyers are ready to proceed with their purchasers after months and months of looking around.

Overseas buyers are still very active, and we expect that the goverment will be able to persuade the big banks to lend more money this year, easing the credit conditins.

Also, it looks like city bonuses will account again for around £7 billion this year in the City, many of those will go to purchase property.

Well, the year has just started, but I can't wait to see what's coming...

Acre House, new built luxury apartments in Covent Garden

Finding property in coveted Covent Garden is not an easy task, there are few properties coming available for sale and there is normally waiting list for them no matter the price. So many buyers are attracted not only by the prestige and the central location, but also by the vibrant piazza, with its shops and restaurants, the theaters and entertainment options on offer within few minutes walk.
It is even less frequent to find new built homes in the area, but Outlet is delighted to launch ACRE HOUSE, a new development located in Long Acre, the most expensive residential street in the area, just around the corner from the Royal Opera House.
This impressive building has been totally renovated to accommodate 11 luxury apartments of 1 and 2 bedrooms plus 3 stunning duplex penthouse apartments which offer the highest available spec, from aquavision to watch your movies from a bubbly bath, to retractable roofs, to turn your impressive living room into an lush outside space with the touch of a button.
The building will also be portered, and it is due to become possibly the most prestigious address in the Covent Garden.

Those of you interested, can contact me on our Outlet office on 0207 287 4244 to be the first to view, before the properties are released in November. Hurry up as they will go quick!

Property Prices falling in all UK Regions

There we go with another set of gloomy news for the property market! It is indeed a challenging time to be an estate agent, although this will bring for sure innovation and more creative ways of marketing property for the future.

Well, let's go to the numbers...

New figures from Hometrack reveal that the average cost of a home dropped by 0.4% during September to £157,600, against the background of a mortgage famine and falling confidence. The most resilient areas of London and the South East have also seen property price falls over last month.

The figures also show the number of buyers looking for a property fell by 2.9% in September- the third month in a row that has seen a reduction.

Richard Donnell director of research at Hometrack, said: "The market is now entering the second phase of the re-pricing process as a response to falls in both sales volumes and demand. Over the rest of the year and into early 2011, agents will start to focus on re-pricing the property on their books to a level where transactions volumes are maintained. Talk of a double dip, with the implication being that the market will see double digit house price falls, is over-done despite the weak outlook for demand. We expect a slowdown in the volume of homes coming to the market to limit the scale of absolute price falls over the next 12 months.

So don't panic just yet, this correction in prices is in a way, a healthy market reaction which will enable property prices to grow at a similar pace as the overall economy, but vendors will have to be realistic and adapt their selling prices to the current demand, as it is a buyer's market at the moment.

For those in despair, bank performance is expected to be good for 2010, and those chunky city bonuses should bring back some joy to the London property market next spring.

Bullish London outstrips national property prices increase

Average house prices registered a 0.2% increase in August but, over the last five months, have remained largely static according to the latest LSL/Acadametrics House Price Index.

The figures also show sales in London picked up by 22% but remain virtually static in all other regions in England & Wales whilst year on year house price growth has slowed to 7.7%, and is expected to slow further as 2010 increases fail to match those of a year ago.

LSL commercial director David Brown said:

“The pickup in house sales since the start of the year dropped off in August. The exception is London where high demand for prized property from cash-rich buyers has seen housing market activity increase. Some buyers will be wary of imminent public sector cuts and the knock-on consequences for the economy.

Kylie sells her London Home

If you ever wondered how stars like her live behind closed doors you can see it in the pictures above! Kylie Minogue is selling her four bedroom apartment for £3,950,000 according to Rightmove where the property has been spotted listed for sale!

The two-floor maisonette is part of a beautiful mansion in South Kensington and offers lovely views over Chelsea. It boasts three bathrooms and even comes complete with a lift and resident caretaker – what more could a pop princess want?

Kylie’s pad was immaculately refurbished a few years ago by interior designers to the stars, Candy and Candy, and features a sweeping staircase and gorgeous parquet floors.

Minogue is believed to have bought the flat back in the 90’s and once shared it with her brother Brendon. It’s thought that she would like to move into a house rather than an apartment so that her younger sister Dannii and her new-born newphew Ethan can come to stay.

Kylie has already moved out of the apartment to begin her hunt for the perfect pad, and has just purchased a £450,000 villa on the Costa Brava to spend more time with her Spanish boyfriend Andres Velencosa.

While there have been rumours of a stateside move, the popstar has already been spotted eying up multi-million pound properties in London.

Its coming! The new economic world order

2010 is marking a turnaround in the world economic power. Finally, all the stories we have been hearing for years about the BRICs (Brasil, Russia, India and China), which we were sort of sceptic about, are becoming a reality, and this year will see two of them climbing in the top ten world ranking. See graphic.

China's GDP has surpassed Japan's in the second quarter of 2010, which had happened before in 2008, but this year looks like it will definitely consolidate China as the second world economy, after surpassing the UK in 2005 and Germany in 2007.
On the other hand, Brazil which has showed an enviable resilience during the last economic crisis, has surpassed beaten Spain as the eight world economy.
India and Russia are now following Brazil's path, and quite surely we will see them in the top ten very soon.
Old Europe sadly seems to be fading away in this new world order, which makes it more important now than ever to advance in the EU development to be able to compete in the new world order.
On the other hand, the economic development of the BRICs will enrich the offer to consumers with new goods and services which we would only dream of a few years ago, who knows... sophisticated and colourful dresses of a chinese version of ZARA, or new Samba beats high on the charts instead of Lady Gaga?

AMAZING! The tallest tent in the world opens in Kazakhstan

Not a peg or guy rope in sight - inside are shops, cinemas and even a beach

The world's tallest tent has opened to the public in the Central Asian nation of Kazakhstan.

Astana, the nation's capital, has undegone an extraordinary building programme that has transformed the city since it became the Kazakh capital 13 years ago. The Petrol rich country, has been promoting Astana, which has been dubbed by some the Dubai of the Far East.


The tent, designed by the British architects Foster & Partners, the Khan Shatyr Entertainment Centre in the capital Astana is 150m (490ft) high.

It opens on the day the city celebrates 13 years as the capital and President Nursultan Nazarbayev his 70th birthday.

The centre has a huge indoor leisure park, designed to be protected from the region's harsh climate.

Khan Shatyr: A 'world within'
Continue reading the main story
The tent is made from three layers of ETFE, a special see-through plastic that allows daylight to wash the interiors while sheltering them from weather extremes
Air is pumped in between the layers inflating them into enormous pillows, giving the tent covering the appearance of a large quilt
The aim is to provide the city with a range of civic, cultural and social amenities sheltered all year round, whatever the weather
In winter, a key challenge is to prevent the formation of ice on the inside of the tent using temperature control and directing warm air currents up the inner fabric surface
The government of Kazakhstan decided to move the capital north to Astana from Almaty in the country's southeast corner because of Almaty's susceptibility to earthquakes and its proximity to the Chinese border
Foster & Partners
Standing on a 200m concrete base, Khan Shatyr is the city's highest structure and the world's tallest tent.

Inside, visitors will find shops, restaurants and cinemas - even an artificial beach and a running track.

Astana experiences extreme changes in temperature, from 30C in the summer to -30C in the winter.

The giant tent, which took four years to build, is designed to withstand harsh weather and maintain a comfortable temperature inside.

It is made from three layers of ETFE; a special see-through plastic that allows daylight to wash the interiors while sheltering them from weather extremes.

Construction Levels rising in the UK

Economic recovery seems to be gaining momentun, albeit slowly, and we got good news regarding building levels according to May NHBC statistics.
House building levels across the UK rose during May 2010, in the period from March to May 2010, 32,352 new homes were registered across the UK. This was a 68 per cent increase on the same three month period in 2009 (19,286), indicating continued year-on-year solid improvement across the sector.

Registrations during May 2010 (10,870) were also 56 per cent higher than in May 2009 (6,953).

Commenting on the figures, Imtiaz Farookhi, chief executive of NHBC, said: "Despite the impact of the general election and the political uncertainty that surrounded it, NHBC's figures show that the number of homes being built in the UK is continuing to improve at a steady rate.

"Sustaining this level of improvement post-budget and into the summer building season however will be the next major challenge to face the industry", he added.

NHBC statistics for the three months to the end of May 2010 show that both private and public sector demonstrated significant improvements:

- Private sector registrations were up 89 per cent (at 20,877) when compared with the same period last year (11,062)

- Public sector registrations were 11,475 - 40 per cent higher than the same period a year ago (8,224).

TFL quits as tenant in the Shard, as it office space price skyrockets

The Shard will be soon the tallest skyscrapper in Western Europe, I can see the structure grow day by day in my whereabouts to see property in different London locations.

Transport for London will no longer become the first office tenant at the Shard at London Bridge as the developers look to position the building at the “top end” of the London market. Prices per sq ft are now reaching £60, as a comparison, prime space in Westminster can be found at £45 per sq ft, so the prices are astronomical.

The transport body was lined up to take nearly 200,000 sq ft at the landmark development, part of the £2bn London Bridge Quarter scheme. However, the partners on the scheme - Sellar Property Group and the State of Qatar (the Quataries again!) – have now acquired TfL’s pre-let agreement.

They will work closely with TfL to help it find alternative accommodation.

A spokesman for London Bridge Quarter said: “This agreement enables us to position the Shard at the very top end of the London office market. Together, the Shard and London Bridge Place will deliver more than 1m sq ft of Grade A offices located on one of London’s busiest transport hubs in a landmark building of the highest quality.”

The change of plan follows a number of high profile deals in the City of London to major occupiers, leaving a lack of supply and rising rents which the Shard’s developers believe it is well placed to capitalise on when it completes in May 2012.

The building comprises 586,000 sq ft of office space along with a hotel, apartments, and retail and leisure space.

It is part of the wider £2bn London Bridge Quarter scheme, designed by Renzo Piano, around London Bridge station, which also includes the 419,000 sq ft London Bridge Place office, a square, a redeveloped station concourse and a new bus station.

I can't wait to see it finsihed.

London Commercial Property is Recovering

Commercial property is back in fashion, a recent survey by Aberdeen Asset Management found that UK pension funds are actively looking to increase their commercial property exposure.

There is currently a shortage of prime office space in the city, and new buildings like the Heron Tower will probably be fully let before completion.

The recovery in commercial property values seen during the past nine months is slowing but analysts say that funds investing in the sector have become increasingly attractive for their income yields.

Commercial property values rose by just 0.8 per cent in April - half the growth rate achieved in March, according to the latest figures from the Investment Property Databank (IPD), the benchmark property index. This monthly growth rate was the lowest since values started rising again last August. Since then, capital values have rebounded 14 per cent following a two-year fall of 45 per cent.

The property sector remains far from healthy, but is looking like an increasingly attractive addition to a portfolio.

Fabric nightclub goes into Administration

Another victim of the recession? many say that Londoners have cut on spending doing less nights out, which easily cost over £100 per person once you add the cab fares.
Clubbing was the one indulgence that many were not ready to give away, but most clubbers, aged in their 20's and early 30's have been hit worse by the recession than other age groups.

A few weeks ago we spoke about Buddha Bar, another example of night venue going bust. Now the iconic Fabric that hosted those memorable DTPM nights that many of you remember very well, is also in danger.

This night club in Farringdon, is a leasehold premises and has 24-hour licence and a capacity of 1,510.

Apparently, just 24 hours after the Edward Symmons, the selling agents, were appointed, they already received a number of enquiries from potential purchasers (Colin White, one of the partners in the agency commented).

They anticipate continued interest in the sale of Fabric, particularly from other major club operators in London and the south east.

Will we be able to enjoy more Fabric nights in the future? I hope so...

Property Prices Fall in London for the first time this year in May

It looks like we are at the end of a price increase cycle. Over the last year we have seen the London market prices boosted by foreign investors and a shortage of properties, but after the elections an increasing number of properties are coming available for sale, and that, together with tight lending conditions is now pulling the brakes in the selling prices.

Rightmove.co.uk, the leading U.K. property portal, just published its May price index.

The average house price in the U.K. capital fell 0.4% from April to £420,203, U.K.’s biggest property website said in an e-mailed statement today. In the year, prices rose 5.7%. In England and Wales, they rose 0.7% in the month to £237,134

Read more: http://www.propertyweek.com/story.asp?sectioncode=297&storycode=3163590&c=1#ixzz0pc8Aqqz7

Merkel 'naked' again

In this incredibly hot friday afternoon, while the streets of Soho downstairs are buzzing, beautiful faces walking around almost everywhere and it is possible to see more fashion trends in 5 minutes outside than in any fashion show, I am going to write about.... Angela Merkel.

Yes, Angela the German Chancellor, this fascinating woman whose glorious bum was shown all around the world in papparazzi pictures while she was changing her bathing suit(I was shocked a the time, and I don't remember this happening to any other head of Estate), She ironically has shaken the financial markets with the ban on 'naked' short selling.

Naked shorts — when the person selling the asset does not own it and has not borrowed it from a third-party broker — had been blamed for exacerbating falls in the stock market.

The question here is that after the financial turmoil of 2008 and the subsequent economic crisis, politicians claimed that they would take measures and pass on new regulations to the banking sector, but few of them have been approved over the last two years.

Yesterday Angela showed the markets her power, markets plunged as a reaction, but I have to admire her determination and her will to stop the euro crisis spiralling out of control. You may agree or disagree, but she definitely has got guts, and we like that.

Talking about nudity, I bet we are all going to be almost naked this weekend, running to get a good dose of Sun...

Bye Bye Buddha Bar

The last victim of the Recession, the London Buddha Bar has gone bust and told its 80 employees they no longer had a job.



Having Lady Gaga amongst its fans, the London venue opened in August 2008 - just before the collapse of Lehman Brothers - and it was expected to become one of the favourite spots where the city boys (and girls) would splash their money in cocktails and champagne.
Buddha Bar, with branches in Paris, New York, Las Vegas, Sharm el Sheikh and Dubai, specializes in Asian food and features an 18-foot high Buddha figure in the dining room.
I still remember how cool it was when I visited the Paris restaurant for the first time 10 years ago.
In my opinion it is not only the bad timing of this opening that has affected the London Buddha Bar, I believe this represents a whole change of direction in what is considered trendy this days, and Buddha Bar has not been able to re-invent itself to compete in the demanding London market.

Looks like new age compilations and giant statues are no longer good enough.

Luxury Property of the week

Wow! I am delighted to talk about this property in the super prestigious Albion Riverside development. This James Bond style building, designed by Norman Foster is a dream for those who like river views. The bold design of the development has been shown in many movies, and residents pride themselves of living in such a landmark building.

The smaller 2 bed apartments without river views are available for around £600k, but
if you have £12.5 million in your pocket, you can now purchase the ultimate duplex penthouse in this development. Just look at the pictures, that stunning double height ceiling with huge glas windows and the 180 degree terrace are unbeatable. The retractable cinema screen suspended in the middle is the icing on the cake. You will enjoy over 6,000sq ft living space, 4 bedroom suites, and the most amazing views in London.

Inflation high again

Not so great news, as this may make mortgages more expensive...

The headline rate of UK inflation hit a 17-month high last month – raising fears that the Bank of England may be forced to raise interest rates sooner than expected.

The fact that inflation hit 3.7% in April is likely to come as a surprise to the City which had been expecting an increase of 3.5%, compared with March’s figure of 3.4%.

The jump prompted the governor of the Bank of England to write an open letter to chancellor George Osborne explaining why the government’s inflation rate target of 2% had been missed by such a large margin.

The bank has previously said that it expects a spike in inflation at the start of 2010 before returning to more normal levels.

King also blamed the impact of higher oil prices, the restoration of VAT to 17.5% and the continuing impact of the weaker pound.



Read more: http://www.propertyweek.com/story.asp?sectioncode=297&storycode=3163659&c=1#ixzz0oIe5cKvl

London Property Prices back to pre-recession levels...

We are reading today that in 4 London Boroughs, the residential properties are now even more expensive than they were at the top of the market in 2007, Kensington and Chelsea, Richmond upon Thames, the City of Westminster and Hounslow have registered record average selling prices.

In London in general, the residential market is still around 9% cheaper than it was at the peak of 2007, but 10% more expensive than a year ago, showing a strong recovery from the prices that bottomed out at the beginning of 2009.

http://tinyurl.com/33gfyzg

New Disney Store in the West End

For those who love your childish side (or those with children rather), we have heard the Disney Store will open a new concept store of 14,000sq ft in the West End. The premises will occupy 350 Oxford street (currently Mexx store) and it is thought Disney will be paying an annual rent close to £2mio for the premises, not bad!!!. The below is extracted from the Propertyweek magazine.

A Disney spokeswoman said: “Disney Store can confirm that we have reached agreement with Mexx to take over their leasehold interest in 350 Oxford Street and we are in joint discussions with the landlords in order to achieve a transfer of the property in the coming months. The property is expected open as a Disney Store in 2011.”

The Disney Store will unveil its new design at its Montebello near Los Angeles in the US and Madrid in Spain this summer. The new design brings theme park quality storytelling and new technology that rivals an Apple Store to the Disney Store brand.

Disney plans more than 20 new or remodelled Disney Stores across North America and Europe. The confirmed stores in the UK are Centre MK in Milton Keynes, Bon Accord Centre in Aberdeen and Donegal Place in Belfast. It is yet to confirm the new Oxford Street store as one of the new concept stores.