Prime Purchase: Comment On The State Of The Top-End Residential Market In Final Qtr. Of 2009

Friday, 20 November 2009 17:12

The recent announcement by the Bank of England that interest rates would remain unchanged and that further ‘quantative easing’, introducing an additional £25 billion into the economy, will clearly have a beneficial effect on asset values, including residential property.

According to Prime Purchase, the prime-end of the residential markets in London and the Country have performed better than expected in 2009, although the company predicts that its buying clients may benefit from a modest fall, in the order of 1 per cent, in prime property values next year.

Nathalie Hirst, Head of London at Prime Purchase says: “Our buyers do not usually require debt to finance property acquisitions and their presence in the market will continue to hold up prices for the very best London properties. This area of the market has been less affected by any pace of economic recovery and more by the lack of supply which has been a feature of the prime London market in 2009.”

“We are confident that prime central London markets will once again lead a sustained recovery towards the end of next year with the potential for growth of up to 20 per cent over the following three years.

Jonathan Bramwell, Head of Country at Prime Purchase, comments; “While we remain concerned about a lack of stock of good houses, this has strengthened prices in 2009 and the lack supply will probably continue to hold prices next year, despite a predicted fall in the mainstream markets.

“While we watch prices closely, we are much more concerned about market sentiment generally and the ability of City buyers to come forward. A lift in country house prices should encourage both buyers and price growth, expected to be up to 15 per cent in the next three years. This should also persuade people trading upwards that 2010 is a good time to sell and move on, before prices start rising more rapidly in 2011 and 2012”.