Property round up shows two tier market in UK

Property round up shows two tier market in UK

The UK residential property market has experienced a year of two halves with prime central London and some of the Home Counties regions seeing an abundance of activity but other parts more subdued.

Mostly buyers have been adopting a cautious approach and 2012 is likely to see nervousness continue although it may encourage more investors, according to Philip Selway, managing partner of The Buying Solution, the independent buying consultancy of Knight Frank.

‘I believe that 2012 will be linked inexorably to the economy. A volatile stock market does create nervousness, however, at the same time it can encourage investors to look to property because it is deemed a safe bet in the long term,’ he explained.

In the Home Counties of Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Surrey, South Oxfordshire and West Sussex, buying consultant Paul Frost, said that the north Surrey market has largely been driven by international money this year, in particular, Russian, Middle Eastern and Chinese buyers, mainly on the Wentworth Estate and St George’s Hill.

Meanwhile, there has been less activity above £2 million in the towns and villages that tend to attract UK buyers. There is still demand from buyers coming out of London, perhaps with the view to securing a property before the September 2012 school year, but there is not a lot on the open market.

‘Where there is property on the market, we often see an imbalance of around 10% between buyer and vendor price expectations; there is little pressure on sellers, yet buyers look at various factors, especially the global economy, and believe that prices are likely to fall, so unless they find their perfect house at the right price, buyers are prepared to wait,’ he explained.