Strongest ever first quarter for London’s super prime market
London’s £5 million-plus residential market has recorded its strongest start to the year ever. The activity seen so far is evidence that appetite for property in the prime central London market remains strong.
In total, there were 128 second-hand and new build sales priced at over £5 million in the first quarter of 2022, which is 25% and 24% higher than Q1 2021 and Q1 2020, respectively.
Two in every five super prime second-hand sales were located in either Kensington, St John’s Wood, Belgravia or Chelsea, in the strongest yet indication of prime central London bouncing back, post-pandemic
Frances Clacy, Associate Director, Residential Research
Sales valued between £5–10 million dominated this quarter with more than £600 million spent on properties in this range. This is a third higher (34%) compared to Q1 2021 and 23% higher than Q1 2020. These significant sales volumes signal that domestic buyers are continuing to dominate the market, but this has also been bolstered by a slight uptick in international buyers returning at the start of the year.
However, the overall average value of transactions in Q1 2022 was £8.9 million, 18% lower than the £10.8 million recorded in Q1 2021, reflecting lower levels of activity at the £10 million-plus end of the market.
During the pandemic, the market was dominated by the race for space and, as a result, we saw leafier locations with typically larger homes – such as Wandsworth, Wimbledon, Richmond and East Sheen – outperform the rest of London. As the City finally returns to normal, we are seeing prime buyers who headed out to the country during the pandemic being drawn back into the traditional London hotspots.
Two in every five super prime second-hand sales were located in either Kensington, St John’s Wood, Belgravia or Chelsea, in the strongest yet indication of prime central London bouncing back, post-pandemic. These old-established postcodes are now reasserting themselves, which is a trend we only expect to strengthen throughout the year.
While prices remain good value historically, both flats and houses in prime central London have now recovered from pandemic falls, and the market looks ripe for further growth in the remaining seven months of the year.
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