According to January figures, the number of new properties coming onto the market across its London branches was 31% higher than January 2019, but in Prime Central London, there was an increase of 64%.
Other metrics that the company uses to measure the health of the sales market were also at unprecedented levels across London, with the number of new buyers registering up 38%; viewings up 35%, offers up 28% and the number of sellers taking price reductions down 38%.
Cory Askew, Chestertons’ Central London Sales Director, commented: “The perceived stability provided by the result of the recent General Election was clearly just the ingredient that the market had been lacking and has given a huge boost to the property market in Central London.
“It is very evident in our data that both buyers’ and sellers’ confidence and optimism is back with a bang and it’s no coincidence that instances of “best bids” and “attended exchanges”, which are generally a sign of a rising market and have been incredibly rare over the last several years, have sharply increased across Central London.
“Because many owners in Central London treat their properties as investments rather than homes, they rarely have to sell out of necessity and the market here is therefore driven almost purely by market sentiment and confidence. It is for this reason that it is often treated as a bellwether for the UK property market and I think we would expect to see a ripple effect and increasing numbers of properties coming onto the market in coming months across the wider market.”
