Luxury London property sales:
Last Updated: May 10, 2011
Chelsea Harbour, Chelsea Price: £5.9m // A three-bedroom penthouse with views of the harbour and the Thames. The 315-square-metre apartment includes a gym and 14-metre-long reception room, but its biggest selling point may be two balconies with seating and an outdoor plasma TV.
Eaton Place, Belgravia £8.7m // Located in the centre of Belgravia, close to Hyde Park, a four-bedroom, 467-sq.-metre apartment with a swimming pool and south-facing roof terrace. The apartment includes two reception rooms, four bathrooms and access to a communal garden. It also includes a mews house.
Kelso Place, Kensington £19.7m // For a contrast with London's old-world history, a modernistic eight-bedroom home designed by Seth Stein. The "low build" house, located just south of Kensington High Street, covers 793 sq metres with gardens and a roof terrace. Its best feature, in crowded London, four off-street parking spaces.
Cornwall Terrace, Regents Park £29m // Silk House is one of eight Grade 1 listed, fully restored homes on the terrace. The house has six bedrooms and six bathrooms, five reception rooms and a cinema. Rooms have hardwood floors, Italian marble, and period fireplaces and detailing, as well as state-of-the-art technology.
Upper Brook Street, Mayfair £29.5m // A short walk from Hyde Park, this townhouse is completely refurbished and Grade II listed, with seven bedrooms and seven bathrooms, plus staff accommodation. For entertaining, there are four reception areas, a cinema and a swimming pool.
These are crazy days for the London property market.
While much of England languishes in a post-crisis malaise, there are often bidding wars for luxury homes in the capital.
Each week seems to bring another headline about a jaw-dropping purchase in London.
Last month, the Ukrainian businessman Rinat Akhmetovis reported to have paid £136 million (Dh817.7m) for a three-storey penthouse in the Knightsbridge development One Hyde Park.
It is believed to be the highest price paid for an apartment in the city.
Overall prices in London are up 17 per cent in the past five years compared with a more modest 1.3 per cent increase for the UK, the Nationwide building society reports. But in the area known to estate agents as "prime central London", prices are up 24 per cent since March 2009, according to data compiled by Knight Frank.
"The big difference is the lack of supply" in central London, says Camilla Dell, the managing partner of Black Brick Property Solutions. "London has seen boom times markets before, but there was nowhere near the shortage of stock."
There is always a buzz these days when a flat in a listed building or a refurbished house in one of the elite neighbourhoods hits the market. Homes are often sold through non-publicised bids, which can result in deals for more than the original asking prices.
Noel Flint, the head of sales in London for Knight Frank, says 30 per cent of the company's sales in central London are never advertised or formally listed for sale. Buyers know they can get their price without the hassle or embarrassment of a public listing.
Belgravia, Mayfair, Knightsbridge and Chelsea are operating as a "micro market" within London, separate from the rest of the UK.
"Strong foreign demand has been key," says Alex Michelin, the co-founder of Finchatton, a design and development company focused on central London. Since January, he says, "the majority of interest and acquisitions have come from buyers from Russia, Middle East, China and India".
International buyers account for more then half of sales in London's top areas, according to Knight Frank. That compares with 15 per cent in Manhattan and 25 per cent in Singapore.
In London, 64 per cent of homes priced above £5m are sold to overseas buyers. Many of these come from the Middle East. Last year, 4.4 per cent of the homes priced above £2m were acquired by buyers from the UAE, trailing only Russia, which supplied 5.9 per cent of the buyers, Knight Frank reports.
But it is not just Russian and Middle Eastern buyers driving up prices. Wealthy investors from Spain, Uzbekistan and elsewhere are also moving in.
"I think the only surprise is the wider spread of global rich," Mr Flint says. "It seems to be that high net worth individuals are spread across a larger part of the globe."
Far from abating, the popularity of London's prime property seems to be growing.
While overall prices in the UK were down 0.3 per cent in the first quarter from the same period last year, London prices continued to climb. Prices increased 2.1 per cent during the first three months, Nationwide says. The sweet spot for sales these days is homes priced between £3m and £7m. But it is hard to find property available in that price range.
There is little room for new construction in London's swanky neighbourhoods, where many "listed" buildings are protected as historic landmarks. Every site is governed by myriad boards and regulations that can draw out any construction process.
Three years after design work started on redeveloping the Chelsea Barracks site, the project has stalled, after a design by Rogers, Stirk, Harbours and Partners was criticised as too modern and unsuitable by the Prince of Wales and local community leaders.
For buyers, London property is seen as a relatively safe and stable investment. But there are other factors at play.
There is a prestige and aura to owning one of London's prime properties.
When people buy a home in one of the best areas, they tend to keep it. Even the international buyers tend to hold on to their property, rather than sell quickly.
Some of the most luxurious homes in the city may be empty for long period with "sheets over the furniture", but owners still refuse to sell, Mr Flint says."They know it would be incredibly difficult to find another one like it."
