London’s £10m+ home market is booming in these postcodes despite lockdown pause
The market for homes worth more than £10m has boomed this year with total sales eclipsing £1bn despite the shutdown of the industry during the coronavirus lockdown.
In the year to 31 August, sales of properties worth more than £10m (called “super-prime”) soared 16 per cent to £1.13bn, compared to the £977.5m recorded in 2019.
There were a total of 56 super-prime deals in the first eight months of the year, down just one compared to last year despite the three-month closure of the UK housing market, according to Knight Frank.
A higher number of super-prime buyers have been British this year, rising to 40 per cent which is the largest proportion in a decade, due to restrictions on travel.
Kensington accounted for 14.3 per cent of all super-prime deals during the period, while the demand for outdoor space has seen increased demand in areas such as Notting Hill, St Johns Wood, Hampstead and Belgravia.
Marylebone is now the second most expensive area of London on a pound-per-square-foot basis, rising from seventh place in 2018.
At the very top of the market, the number of homes worth more than £30m topped 17, with the bulk of sales of these luxury homes occurring in Mayfair, Belgravia, Sloane Square and elsewhere in SW1 and SW3.
Knight Frank global head of prime sales Paddy Dring said: “The key motivators of capital preservation, the UK education system and cheap debt are unchanged.
“The trend for more outdoor space has benefitted suburban and country markets but buyers are retaining a London investment for the long-term.
“Prices are robust with single-digit percentage discounts but no more.”
Rory Penn, head of Knight Frank’s private office, added: “Large discounts are not available despite the pandemic. Vendors are resilient, debt is cheap and banks are not calling in loans.
“Prices, for now, don’t feel like they have much further to fall after the declines of recent years. It doesn’t appear that another 10 per cent is about to come off overnight.
“The number of deals in 2020 compared to last year underlines the liquidity and resilience of the market.”