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Cheaper house prices cause surge in prime London housing market activity

The decline in property prices at the upper end of London’s housing market has led to a sharp rise in home sales in recent weeks, according to a leading north London estate agent.

Trevor Abrahamson, who heads up Glentree International, the estate agency based in Golders Green, reports that there has been more activity in the last eight weeks in the London Property Market, than in the past two years.

He said: “After all the negative effects of the stamp duty hikes, Non Dom changes, and so forth, the middle to upper sectors of the London property markets have been in a parlous state. Values have been dropping by 25%, or more, and the time taken to sell properties in excess of £5million, has increased from say six months to 18 months. Frankly, in 40 years of trading I have not witnessed such an extended malaise, without any end in sight.

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“The good news is that since Brexit has devalued the pound by 15% to 20%, the word is out amongst the international community, that property in ‘the greatest city on earth’ is cheap.”

Abrahamson reports that there has been a notable rise in buyers from Eastern Europe, with around £120m worth of sales having been agreed in the northwest London area alone, “which is remarkable to say the least”, according to the veteran estate agent.

He also informs us that Glentree has seen a surge in buyers coming from the Middle East, thanks to reduced property values and currency gain, which Abrahamson says together, “represents a near on 50% discount, which is impossible to find in any other metropolis in the world”.

The estate agent believes that the recent hike in the level of activity represents the “first fruits of Brexit”, and believes that the UK has made the right decision to leave the European Union.

He now wants the chancellor Philip Hammond to review the changes made to stamp duty in the Autumn Statement of 2014, when the ‘slab sided’ SDLT calculator was reformed, which he has described as “a foolish escapade”. 

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