ASKING PRICES UP SIX PER CENT IN PRIME CENTRAL LONDON

Asking prices in Prime Central London are six per cent higher in the first quarter of 2011 compared with the 2010 quarterly average, new research from CB Richard Ellis (CBRE) has revealed.



Domestic demand is beginning to play a more significant role in the market, but the recovery is still being largely supported by interest from overseas. CBRE’s latest findings show that 45 per cent of all off-plan sales in the Far East happened in Hong Kong, with a further 35 per cent in Singapore.



Outside of Prime Central London asking prices have decreased indicating their greater dependence on national market forces, falling by up to five per cent in fringe locations such as Islington and Canary Wharf.



Jennet Siebrits, Head of Residential Research, CBRE, commented:



“As a result of the fundamental lack of supply of homes in Prime Central London, newly built housing is being absorbed quickly into the market and premium prices are being paid above the local embedded value.



“While the recovery in Prime Central London has largely been spurred on by international buyers, domestic demand is beginning to play a more significant role reflecting growing sentiment in the City’s financial services industry and its associated bonuses.



“London is still seen as a place to do business thanks to its economic and political infrastructure and these fundamentals will underpin the capital’s desirability despite new Government policies in response to anti-banking sentiment. London is now the billionaire capital of Europe with over 32, more than half of which are foreign, opting to make the city their home.”