Sitting on a Property in Central London? Now Is the Time to Sell
The market in the UK's most exclusive and expensive housing sector is on the up after a slow few years due to government tax increases. If you have a property in Central London and have been anxious about selling now might be the time.
Online, December 16, 2013 (Newswire.com) - The market in the UK's most exclusive and expensive housing sector is on the up after a slow few years due to government tax increases. If you have a property in Central London and have been anxious about selling now might be the time.
2011 Budget and Stamp Duty
The Central London housing market took a bit of a hit when the Chancellor George Osborne announced that stamp duty would be going up from 4% to 5% for all properties over 1,000,000 euro. As average prices for the area fell just below and above this threshold this caused a dilemma for people wanting to move.
Should buyers suffer the extra tax, or try and find a property just below the threshold? Or should homeowners lower their asking price to improve their chances or stick to their guns? This dilemma caused a slump in price rises compared to recent years and lower levels of transactions.
Sales (and prices) on the rise
However, since March 2012 transactions in the 1-2,000,000 euro bracket now up by 84%.Even homes in the 1-1,500,000 euro bracket are now back up to the same levels they were in March 2011, which is remarkable as this is the part of the market most susceptible to fluctuations caused by the stamp duty increase.
This change is due to a number of factors, possibly notably the increase in international purchasers. One independent London estate agent, Kay and Co recently reported that just over half of their sales were to overseas customers.
Confidence and average prices are also up, as the Zoopla Property Group have said recently that confidence in the market is at a three year high according to their research. Average house prices across Britain are up by 5%. In Central London they have increased by a massive 25% in the past year, up to an average of 1,186,817 euro.
So if you have been put off moving from Central London in the past few years now might be the time to sell. There is no telling if we can expect prices to continually rise like they have in the past, but at least some confidence has returned to the market. With London's international prestige also at a high, you should have no problems finding a buyer for your home.