London prime real estate values fell over the third consecutive quarter as financial turmoil and the risk that the UK will vote to revoke the European Union slowed down demand. Properties in districts dubbed as prime central London decreased 0.8 percent in the first half of the year.
Lucian Cook, Savills head of residential research, mentioned in an announcement on Wednesday that values will probably not rise this year.
London prime real estate sales, which had dropped since the government implemented stamp-duty sales taxed for the most costly properties in 2014, will continue to suffer as potential buyers will await the outcome of the June 23 trial to determine whether Britain will leave the European Union, according to a feature from Financial Review.
Opponents of Brexit claimed a vote to leave will cause corporations to cut investment and remove workers from London. Cook stated that unlike most parts of the London market, the prime markets remained fairly price aware and increasingly demanded by needs-based buyers. He also pointed out that given the historic levels of price increase, the tax burden and political upheaval stemming from the upcoming mayoral election and referendum, his view was that the market will unlikely see any price increase over the course of 2016 as the market will continue to adjust.
According to Savills, costs in London's elite neighbourhoods, including Belgravia, Chelsea, Knightsbridge and Mayfair, had surged 17.6 percent in the previous year and are expected to soar to 21.5 percent by the end of 2020. Values had dropped 6.7 percent from its highest in the third quarter of 2014. The federal government in December 2014 implemented stamp duty sales tax so it escalated to 12 percent on every pound spent over 1.5 million pounds.
London prime real estate prices across all of London dropped 0.3 percent in the first quarter, marking over a 1.2 percent drop since its peak in 2014, according to a feature from Bloomberg.
