Latest
Property News
LATEST
PROPERTY MARKET NEWS
(scroll down the page to view all articles in chronological
order and click on individual item for full story)
Q1
2010 - English Premiership footballers snapping up
Country houses for sale in Cheshire, Surrey and Cape
Town, South Africa...read
more
Jan
2010 - Guide to buying a UK Georgian Country House...read
more
Jan
2010 - Advice on buying Cape Town Property in South
Africa's FIFA World Cup 2010 year...read
more
Dec
2009 Rural Idyll - City Buyers flock to be Lord of
the Manor in buying prime
UK Country Houses & Estates...read
more
Dec
2009 London Property Market
Prices continue to rise in London
with lots of last minute Christmas Property shopping
activity,
according to Knight Frank's latest report...read
more
Q4
2009 Market Report -
UK Country Estates & farm
property markets set to outperform in 2010
...read more
Country
Property for sale in Bassett Down, Wiltshire
By UK Country Property Sales
Dated: Nov 30, 2009
6 bed Grade II listed house - 2 cottages - Modern
& traditional buildings - 2 industrial units -
In all about 83.72 acres....read
more
Country
Property for Sale in Bradford-On-Avon, Bath, Wiltshire
5 reception rooms, kitchen/breakfast room, conservatory,
boot room. 9 bedrooms, 4 bath/shower rooms, utility,
cellars. Leisure complex. Formal gardens. 2 cottages,
outbuildings. Extensive equestrian facilities. Approx
109 acres in all...read
more
2009
- Prime London Property Review
Prices for property in central London rose by 1% in
August, the fifth month
in a row that prices have risen. The latest price
rise means that prices are now 6.4%
higher than they were in March, the low point in the
recent market cycle. Click to view the full report
from Knight Frank....
Country
House for sale in Winchester, Hampshire - Offers in
excess of £4,000,000
By UK Country Property Sales
Dated: Nov 26, 2009
Country
House for sale in Preston Candover, Basingstoke, Hampshire
By UK Country Property Sales
Dated: Nov 26, 2009
Country
Property for sale in Burley, New Forest, Hampshire
By UK Country Property Sales
Dated: Nov 26, 2009
Country
Property for sale in Odiham, Hampshire - New to the
market
By UK Country Property Sales
Dated: Nov 25, 2009
Queen
Ann Style Hampshire Country Home for Sale
By UK Country Property Sale
Dated: Nov 25, 2009
Country
Property for sale in Brockenhurst, New Forest, Hampshire
- New to the Market
By UK Country Property Sale
Dated: Nov 25, 2009
TOP 10
UK COUNTRY PROPERTIES FOR SALE THIS SPRING
>
> Click
here to register
to receive details of properties for sale < <
1. Cherington Hill,
Oxfordshire - £5.85m
Cherington Hill looks like a 12th-century monastery,
to which the Georgians added a perfect red-brick square
house with sash windows. Yet the whole property, which
is surrounded by 70 acres managed by a local farmer,
was built over the course of just one year –
2006, on the site of a derelict farm cottage and barn.
Additional land and two cottages are also available.
2. Wyck Place, Hampshire - £6.5m
Wyck Place in Alton (London 50 miles) looks like a
castle from certain angles and a Queen Anne house
from others – and hasn’t appeared on the
open market for 200 years. A fascinating example of
Victorian style, with gigantic reception rooms, seven
bedrooms and a tower. There are two staff houses,
a lake, formal gardens, a tennis court and nearly
40 acres.
3. Home Farm, Gloucestershire - £4.5m
Home Farm, Evenlode near Kingham (London 85 minutes)
is a meticulously restored village house, with five
bedrooms, annexe, cottage, stables, tennis court,
formal gardens and 17 acres plus permission to build
a swimming pool.
4. Kilmeston Manor, Hampshire - £5.5m
Kilmeston Manor in a popular village near Winchester
is a picture-book country house with eight bedrooms,
outbuildings, cottages, walled gardens, tennis court
and 20 acres. It needs some modernising but the end
result will be stunning.
5. Stockerston Hall, Leicestershire - £5m
Stockerston Hall near Uppingham (London 95 miles)
is “a perfect mini estate”, says Mark Lawson
of the Buying Solution. It looks out majestically
across its own land (266 acres) and has gracious reception
rooms, five bedrooms, a staff flat, two cottages and
a coach house. There are landscaped gardens, a tennis
court, a swimming pool, family shoot and woodland.
6. The Old Vicarage, Cornwall - £4.25m
The Old Vicarage in St Winnow is an immaculate country
house with dreamy views over the river Fowey. There
are seven bedrooms, beautiful landscaped gardens,
a swimming pool, tennis court, staff cottage, a library
and eight acres.
7. Newton
Peveril Manor, Dorset - £2.5m
Untouched Georgian country houses like Newton Peveril
Manor in a village near Wimborne rarely come on the
market. It needs renovating but has the makings of
an idyllic family home: five bedrooms, pool, stables,
paddocks, formal gardens and lake. Near good schools
and London is less than two hours.
8. Limefield House, West Lothian - £1.65m
Limefield House is a grand Georgian home with painted
ceilings and marble fireplaces, close to Edinburgh.
Extensive (newly renovated) accommodation includes
eight bedrooms, annexe and offices. The grounds were
landscaped to mimic Victoria Falls.
9. The Old Rectory, Somerset - £2m
Blink and you’ll miss the Old Rectory in Pylle
near Castle Cary. It is surrounded by 26 acres and
has a symmetrical Georgian floor plan with large reception
rooms, plenty of store rooms and six bedrooms. There’s
a walled kitchen garden and sweeping drive.
10. The Halesend Estate, Worcestershire - £6-£7m
The Halesend Estate is a sporting estate and country
house nine miles from Worcester with nine bedrooms,
a summer house, cellars, swimming pool, tennis court,
stables, four cottages, shoot, trout stream and extensive
riding. The complete works.
Central London house prices
first to stabilise
March 19 2009
Asking
prices in Prime London increased by 0.94% in February,
the fourth successive month of rising values.
Asking prices in February rose across four of the
five Prime London regions with the largest monthly
increase recorded in West/South West London (2.84%).
Central London: the only region to still record positive
year-on-year growth (3.24%).
Outside the Capital, prices fell again for the seventh
successive month, bringing the average asking prices
down 0.39% on January 2009. The South West (-6.57%)
and the South East (-1.58%) recorded the largest falls
while the West Midlands & Wales (15.61%) and Scotland
(8.14%) continued to record strong growth.
Andrew Smith, Primelocation.com's Head of Research,
comments: "This is the fourth successive month
that the Prime Index has recorded growth in the London
market, a trend which is being driven by a decline
in stock levels and the return of positive annual
growth in Central London.
"Central London has always been a magnet for
international capital and at the moment lower prices
and the weaker pound are attracting overseas buyers
in search of bargains. The recent cut in Base Rate
to 0.5% will keep the pressure on the pound so this
is a trend which we expect to continue in the months
Source : Primelocation
March 19 2009
UK
property sales enquiries up
March 13 2009
Encouraging signs are appearing that people want
to buy houses again - yet enquiries are still failing
to convert into sales.
New buyer enquiries increased in February at the fastest
pace since August 2006, says the Royal Institution
of Chartered Surveyors (RICS). But the bad news is
that agreed sales and sales per surveyor continue
to fall.
RICS believes that the falls in Bank of England base
rate are stoking consumer interest in buying homes.
The implication is that without mortgage lenders making
loans more readily available, buyer interest is unlikely
to be converted into a big increase in sales for the
foreseeable future.
On balance, more surveyors expect house prices to
fall further than expect them to rise immediately.
That negative sentiment seems to be shared with house
sellers. Despite the shortage of house sales, the
stock of unsold properties on surveyors' books has
fallen. This suggests that some owners have withdrawn
properties from the market, while other owners are
reluctant to put properties up for sale in current
conditions.
Shortage of supply
This shortage of supply has encouraged up-market estate
agents Savills to present a more optimistic picture.
Savills believes that house prices may now be on the
verge of rising. Savills believes that the market
fall will reach its bottom at 25% below peak prices
in the regions and 30% below peak with prime London
properties. In the distressed property market, says
Savills, price falls have now reached those levels,
while the mainstream market is showing falls in value
of between 15% and 20%.
"We could now be about to enter the latter stages
of house price falls and be on the brink of the first
stage in the recovery process," says Yolande
Barnes, head of residential research at Savills. "This
is characterised by low supply as well as low demand
levels, which causes prices to bottom out.
"We have already seen a pronounced recovery in
affordability, thanks to both price falls and reduced
interest rates, which sets the platform for a recovery
when macro-economic conditions are right. However
the return to house price growth will be a faltering
process and further bad news on the economy, particularly
that which increases fear of unemployment, is likely
to delay the point at which static prices turn to
price growth."
Prime stock will do best
Barnes adds: "It is prime stock that is likely
to first see an upturn and that will characterise
the second stage of recovery." But she warns:
"It is becoming increasingly likely that the
worsening economic climate will have the effect of
pushing out the timing of recovery from our earlier
projections, perhaps by 12 months."
To put it another way, even the optimistic version
of events has a pessimistic sting in the tail. That
interpretation is confirmed by the latest house price
figures published by the largest UK mortgage lender,
the Halifax. Having shown a surprising 2% average
house price rise in January, its index reported a
2.3% fall in February. The underlying trend on the
last quarter was a 3.6% fall.
Another difficult year?
Halifax's housing economist Martin Ellis says: "Whilst
market activity remains at very low levels, there
are some tentative signs that activity may be beginning
to stabilise. The house price to earnings ratio -
a key measure of housing affordability - has fallen
to its lowest level for six years. Continuing pressures
on incomes, rising unemployment and the negative impact
of the dislocation of the financial markets on the
availability of mortgage finance are, however, likely
to mean that 2009 will be another difficult year for
the housing market."
Camps
Bay, Cape Town - Property in demand
March 12 2009
With all the magnificent homes around in Camps
Bay today, Property Investment doubles every five
years and is continuing to do so.
Camps Bay Entry-level is around R5-million.
Affectionately known as The Strip, the Camps Bay
beachfront has it all – perfect palms, a crescent
of white sand where bronzed beach-goers glisten in
the sun while sipping cocktails behind Gucci shades,
and a beautiful, yacht-filled, turquoise bay.
This golden view fronts a suburb that is the envy
of beach destinations worldwide. To visitors, Camps
Bay is a dazzling, self-contained holiday resort
where you can shop at exclusive boutiques, dine at
a vast selection of restaurants, party in glamorous
style, tan, paraglide, enjoy matchless mountain walks
and view cutting-edge architecture – all under
the breathtaking gaze of Cape Town’s towering
sphinx and against the backdrop of the exquisite Twelve
Apostles mountains.
But Camps Bay wasn’t always a playground
for local and international glitterati; this is just
one of its alluring personalities, and its newest.
From the 1940s to the ’60s, it was literally
a one-horse town. A white mare named Philly was the
village pet. She roamed the streets freely, and in
1957 was made an official freeman of Camps Bay.
Philly belonged to Roy de Beer (known by locals as
Bak-Beentjies), a well-remembered Camps Bay
character who worked from two huge sheds that stood
almost exactly where the parking lot behind Pick n
Pay is today. His land was essentially a car graveyard.
A resident who grew up in Camps Bay recalls:
‘Bak-Beentjies had a scrapyard full of cars that
he kept meaning to work on, plus every other broken
object one could possibly imagine, and living in amongst
this metal playground were his 40 or 50 cats and dogs.
They seemed to spend all day sleeping under the cars
and in old doll prams, enjoying the full attention
of their owner. Philly, on the other hand, would wander
around, eating people’s flowers and getting fed
delicious treats by housewives, who adored her.’
The one-horse town later became a one-horse, one-donkey
town when Roy adopted scruffy Nellie. Local children
would ride on his back until he’d tire of them;
then he’d simply walk under a low branch and
knock them off. These hoofed residents are still making
Camps Bay’s children smile and watching their
village grow – they grin from a huge mural in
the entrance hall of Camps Bay High School, as a constant
loving reminder of the suburb’s earlier days.
In the early 1800s, when Camps Bay was a backwater
suburb that few Capetonians even knew how to get to,
lion, leopard and antelope roamed free on the verdant
slopes beneath Lion’s Head.
Lord Charles Somerset used The Round House (a small
building at the foot of Lion’s Head that was
originally a guardhouse and later a farmhouse) as
his hunting lodge. His tastes were extravagant and
he had it fitted with the finest luxuries of the time.
Since then, The Round House has been used for various
hospitality endeavours. Today the building has been
beautifully restored and houses the exquisite Roundhouse
Restaurant.
Nightlife and entertainment in Camps Bay began
in the Rotunda, which now forms part of the five-star
Bay Hotel. The landmark green-roofed, round building
was built in 1904 and was used for roller-skating,
dancing, silent-movie viewings and, sometimes, even
boxing matches. Today, people find their fun a few
metres closer to the sea. On the south side of The
Strip is Cape Town’s beautiful Theatre on the
Bay, where an excellent variety of local and international
productions are staged.
Restaurants and bars are dotted all along the beachfront
and spill onto the pavement, creating a real café-culture,
cocktails-in-the-sun feel.
Owners don’t have it as easy as it may appear,
though. Edmonton block, the restaurant block opposite
the famous Café Caprice, recently sold on auction
for R44-million, and it’s just over 400m2 –
a whopping R110 000 a square metre. This exceedingly
high value makes it difficult for any commercial venture
to be profitable, and restaurants in Camps Bay have
a tendency to frequently change hands. Those notable
for their staying power include The Bayside Café,
The Sandbar, Café Caprice and Blues.
The up side of the situation: there are always new
little gems to be discovered. The most recent summer
additions are Bungalow and The Kove, which have brought
a crisp sense of style to the previously drab ‘petrol-station
side’ of Main Road.
The name ‘Camps Bay’ has been around
since the 1700s, when Dutch sailor Fredrik Ernst von
Kamptz envisaged a relaxing life for himself on a
farm where he could look out over the vast ocean rather
than scrub the decks of his ship Holland. Von Kamptz
found a lonely widow, Anna Koekemoer, who owned a
piece of land with an idyllic view. He married her
and became the owner of Ravensteyn, the first farm
in the area. Despite only living there for 10 years,
he managed to make his mark, with the area becoming
known as ‘de Baai van Von Kamptz’.
Perceptions change all the time: Cohen’s Folly
was the name given to Isidore Cohen’s swift purchase
of a large portion of Camps Bay in the 1920s,
when it was known as a bushy waste battered by the
southeast and northwest winds. He was one of the very
few who saw any potential in the area.
Investment folly? Hardly so. The last few decades
tell a very different story.
‘I’ve been working in the area for 15 years
and have witnessed its meteoric rise from a sleepy
suburb to one of Cape Town’s most desirable areas,’
says Barbara Rogers of Pam Golding Properties. ‘It
has proved to be a very good investment area. Even
in difficult times, Camps Bay has held property values
far better than other areas.’
Careen Bernstein of Dogon Group Properties agrees:
‘I’ve spent most of my adult life selling
property in Camps Bay; it has certainly been a good
investment area for many people. Three years ago we
sold a bungalow on Glen Beach for R21-million and
it didn’t even have a garage or off-street parking!
More recently we sold a property on a very large erf
for R20-million. The purchaser knocked down the house
that was there and is now building a mansion of note.’
The numbers rise. A two-storey house recently sold
for over R30-million, and this on the previously lower-valued,
south side of Camps Bay, closest to Hout Bay.
‘Traditionally, The Glen – at the foot of
Lion’s Head, on the north side of Camps Bay
– was the most sought-after area because it’s
more protected from the wind,’ says a property
developer in Camps Bay. ‘But in recent
years, high prices have been achieved anywhere in
the area. People are far more interested in the house
and the quality of the views than the location. Anywhere
in Camps Bay is prime.’
Ian Slot, managing director of Seeff Properties, says,
‘Years ago, houses in the Rontree area
above Camps Bay Drive as well as the area below it
were less sought-after. However, with all the magnificent
homes around today, there seems to be little differentiation
between areas. Investment doubles every five years
and is continuing to do so. Entry-level is around
R5-million.’
Architecture has embraced the fact that a house and
its views are the factors that fetch high prices.
Camps Bay is the ideal canvas for architectural
firms, like Stefan Antoni Olmesdahl Truen Architects,
Greg Wright Architects, Archilab Architects
and Arthur Quinton Darryl Croome Architects;
they can capture the natural splendour, reflect it
in their designs and ‘bring the outdoors in’.
One building whose design contrasts with the architectural
styles emerging in the area is Sonnekus, the only
high-rise building on the beachfront. It was completed
in the early 1970s, when new developments were hardly
questioned. Once it was up, residents panicked as
they realised that the beachfront was legally zoned
for towering blocks of flats. The potential for a
concrete uprising on the beachfront was quickly squashed
when Section 98 of the Zoning Scheme Regulations was
introduced; it prescribed that future buildings in
Camps Bay were to be restricted to 10 metres
in height and could only comprise three storeys.
‘To this day, nobody can tell you with any certainty
what this actually means,’ sighs Camps Bay resident
Chris Willemse, the head of planning for Camps
Bay Ratepayers and Residents Association (CBRRA).
‘We’ve fought many court cases and are willing
to keep doing so to keep Camps Bay looking
like a residential area. The city’s development
approval process is abysmal, mostly favouring unacceptable
and often illegal development, but we’re working
hard to keep a village feel. The CBRRA is not anti-development,
but we’re not prepared to allow our very special
suburb to be destroyed for anybody’s short-term
gain. The three words we keep in mind when development
decisions arise are: “sensitive, sensible, sustainable”.’
Brenda Herbert of Herbert Properties has worked as
an estate agent in Camps Bay for 33 years.
She has lived in the area for 45 years and is an executive
member of the CBRRA. She says, ‘Many developments
have been legally “trimmed” to comply with
the regulations and to avoid dropping the values of
neighbouring properties. Development must obviously
happen, but it has to blend in with, not mar, the
beauty of the surroundings.’
For those looking to move to the area, the community
feel is a draw card, as is the community’s efforts
to reduce crime. Bernard Shäfer started Camps
Bay Watch in February 2008 as an anti-crime initiative
under the auspices of the Camps Bay Community Policing
Forum. ‘We’ve had a tremendous impact on
crime,’ he says, ‘but as a public organisation
we intend to continue changing the way residents co-exist
and interact in order to restore a cleaner, safer
and better functioning suburb for all.’ Does
he think Camps Bay is a safe place to live? ‘Yes,
definitely; compared with other areas we are relatively
safe.’
Some residents are keen for Camps Bay to become a
City Improvement District (CID), Bernard says. ‘We’ve
had an introductory meeting to educate residents on
what a CID entails, but no decision or direction has
been taken yet.’
‘Becoming a CID would be very positive and is
probably inevitable,’ comments Chris Willemse.
Feb
2009 - Now
is the time to buy in Cape Town, South Africa.
With
FIFA 2010 coming up, Cape Town South Africa remains
an exciting property investment and offers superior
world class living for it's residents.
Big-ticket home sales, which have been missing from
the market for months, have started to re-appear in
the wake of improving sentiment.
So says Shaun Ascough, MD of Sands
Home Search International who notes that in recent
weeks the level of enquiries from super prime property
buyers has increased 5 fold from the level we were
experiencing in Qtr 4 2008.
Several luxury homes have been sold in SA, including
some of the finest property in the Southern Suburbs
and the Atlantic Seaboard.
›
LATEST
NEWS:
Jan
2009 - £1.5million
buys you 'Heaven on Earth' in Upper
Constantia, Cape Town. 7 bed Upper Constantia Villa
with
the Best Views in Cape Town's
Southern Suburbs.....read
more
"Last year there was only bad news
– Eskom, Zimbabwe, higher interest rates and
bigger deposits – and everyone froze in their
tracks and put home purchasing on hold. This year
there is much good news among the bad, people have
adjusted to their new circumstances and things are
starting to move again," he says.
Many of these multimillion-rand
sales are cash deals and so do not really depend on
declining interest rates but on improving sentiment.
Prices have also declined substantially and this always
induces the shrewd market to come out of woodwork.
Public reports confirm that emigration
has dropped drastically and significant numbers of
expats are returning to South Africa as they flee
the fallout of the financial crisis in the UK, Europe
and Australia. This is another positive for SA in
terms of meeting our skills shortage and creating
jobs that will ultimately boost housing demand.
Meanwhile, interest rates have fallen
by a further 1% this week and are expected to fall
further in the coming months. Inflation is falling
and disposable incomes improving, which is already
increasing the demand for housing.
"With FIFA 2010 Football World
Cup just around the corner it does appear that we
are now on the threshold of the bottom of the market
and that a turn is in sight. Big-ticket sales are
a strong indicator of returning confidence and this
combined with an improving credit outlook should see
prices stabilise in the second half of the year."
Cash
buyers scent rich pickings in property.
This grab-a-bargain-now
strategy is based on the belief that if you catch
a market within 10 per cent of its bottom, you are
doing well. This trend is set to increase the proportion
of homes owned without a mortgage, which stands at
45 per cent in England.
Savills, the estate
agent that forecast a year ago that property values
were set for a 25 per cent decline, is finding that
buyers are prepared to deal if the prices are reduced
by that amount, according to Yolande Barnes, residential
research director.
Ms Barnes believes
that interest at this level could be a factor militating
against another steep decline. Property is acquiring
safe-haven status, with the moneyed classes spooked
by the Icelandic banking scandal and weary of poor
stock market performance.
First-timers left
behind by bargain-hunters.
Buyers lining up, but mortgages out of reach .
James Hyman, residential partner at Cluttons, the
property consultant, said: “The risk element
of property investment is beginning to be removed.
Stock market values are down, banks are not offering
any form of return and with rental values holding
up in London, in many cases it is now once again becoming
cheaper to buy than rent.” However, like other
agents, Mr Hyman insisted that the market remains
fragile.
The recent increase
in viewings after months of torpor that was reported
by Savills yesterday is also being experienced by
other agencies. The Royal Institution of Chartered
Surveyors' monthly survey of its members revealed
a rekindling of enthusiasm among buyers.
But many of those
eager to clamber on to or ascend the ladder are unable
to proceed as a result of the continuing shortage
of mortgage funds. Yesterday's figures from the Council
of Mortgage Lenders (CML) showed that lending slumped
by 48 per cent last year; in recent weeks, there has
been little sign of improvement.
Ms Barnes said the
housing market was in stage one of its recovery, with
life returning to the “über-towns”
of the South East, such as Cambridge, Guildford, Oxford,
Sevenoaks and Winchester. These are within reach of
London, with good schools and handsome family homes
close to the town centre.
But she added that
the process would not extend nationwide for a decade;
prices will not be restored to their 2007 levels until
as late as 2019 in some locations. “We are far
from seeing green shoots but the seeds are about to
be watered,” Ms Barnes said.
Lucian Cook, of Savills,
believes that “funds are massing” and overseas
investors are once more active in the market. In stage
two, the revival will spread outside the capital to
the top tier of properties in locations, with owner-occupiers
using equity to move upwards on the ladder.
Other sectors will
start to feel the benefit in stage three when mortgages
become more plentiful. Only in the final phase of
the upturn will prospects brighten for first-time
buyers and amateur buy-to-let investors.
— The number
of mortgages granted to homebuyers nearly halved last
year, falling to the lowest level since 1974 as banks
and building societies reined in lending despite several
big lenders receiving billions of pounds in taxpayers'
cash.
Some 516,000 home
loans were granted to buyers in 2008, down from 1.01
million in 2007 and the lowest number since records
began nearly 35 years ago, figures from the CML show.
The number of first-time buyers, crucial to the health
of the housing market, also plunged to a record low.
source: Times online
UK
House price growth of 1.9% recorded in Jan 2009.
Astute buyers starting to buy in the super prime property
market.
Heartened by a significant increase in the number
of buyer enquiries and viewings recorded in January,
country agents everywhere are scanning the landscape
for signs of those elusive ‘green shoots of recovery’.
It’s still early days, but the launch of the
first batch of classic country houses to hit the market
in 2009 will surely provide a pointer as to how things
will go for the rest of the year.
The property market in December performed better than
expected, according to the NAEA. They found the number
of sales agreed per month remained the same as in
November, rather than falling as expected in a usually
quiet month, and also that the number of first-time
buyers increased slightly (a number which has been
rising since August) to make up an average of 10.8%
of all buyers. Upmarket agents and property finders
are reporting a recent surge in enquiries from Middle
Eastern buyers who want to take advantage of the weak
pound, particularly in the Home Counties.
Half a percentage point has been shaved off interest
rates by the Bank of England today and they now stand
at 1%. Some are already speculating that rates will
drop to 0% before the year is out, however, others
- including the Federation of Small Businesses - argue
that they should have stayed at 1.5%.
Providing lenders pass the cut on, it is hoped that
this will encourage more buyers into the property
market. All the main country agents & buying agents
advise that new client enquiries in both London and
the Country have significantly increased with buyers
keeping an eye on what they perceive to be the bottom
of the market. Clients who need to purchase this year
are aiming to do so whilst house prices are still
on a downward slope, and with savings rates at an
all time low, now is looking like a good time for
them to protect their capital in the long term by
way of property purchase.
Are
UK Country Estates Still Selling?
Friday 19th December 2008
Source : Times Online
This year has seen some spectacular estates change
hands, but now the recession is biting
Image :1 of 10
When Longparish House, a Grade II*-listed
nine-bed house in Hampshire with extensive chalk-stream
fishing, went on sale in April with a guide price
of £9m, the owners and agents waited to see
if anyone would take the bait.
They were not disappointed. Three
bidders fought over the property, set in 173 acres
in the Test Valley, and it eventually went for almost
£13m. This followed the sale the previous month
of Duntisbourne House, in the Cotswolds, for £3m
more than its £5m guide.
Then, in early summer, after Turville
Court, Oxfordshire, sold for £22m and the Blairs
splashed out on a £4m mini-stately of their
own, it looked as if the country-house sector might
ride out the turbulence afflicting the market as a
whole. It was not to be: after Lehman Brothers failed
in September and the economic downturn worsened, even
some of the country’s most glorious Georgian
piles had six-figure sums slashed from their price
tags.
“Some properties that came
to the market a year or so ago have seen their asking
prices fall by as much as 30%,” says Rupert Sweeting,
head of the country-house department at the estate
agent Knight Frank. After “the mega-boom of the
last 18 months”, he adds, he has already come
across one multi-million-pound distress sale.
Marsh Court, a 10-bedroom house in Stockbridge, Hampshire,
which came onto the market in April 2007 for £13m,
was relaunched this June for £10m and sold for
£11m in September. Grade I-listed Chicheley
Hall, in Buckingham-shire, which went on sale in July
last year for £9m, had its asking price slashed
to £7m in January and went for close to that
in June.
Many more sellers are retiring from
the fight altogether, including the owners of Furzehill
Place, in Surrey, once home to the Victorian explorer
Sir Henry Morton Stanley. They have taken the property
– guide price £7m – off the market
after eight months.
It is clear that the City-boy-fuelled
boom years are over – but what does the next
year hold? “There’s still a lot of money
out there, and a lot of people still have an ambition
to buy a chunk of England,” says Mark Lawson,
a director of The Buying Solution, an upmarket agency.
He warns, however, that until buyers regain the confidence
to spend and sellers are willing to brave the market,
2009 will be very tough indeed.
1 Sold! March, £8.5m+ Gloucestershire
Seven-bedroom Duntisbourne House,
in 70 acres of glorious Cotswold countryside, was
the first real test of the market. The 18th-century
property, which has a lodge, a staff flat, stables,
a tennis court and a pool, went on sale in March with
a guide price of £5m. It sold in three weeks
for at least £3.5m more. “It was bound
to create a premium, but the question was, ‘How
much?’,” says Henry Holland Hibbert, head
of the country-house department at the selling agent,
Strutt & Parker. Cynics might say the guide price
was set low to encourage competitive bidding.
2 Sold! June, £20m Cambridgeshire
Set in 2,500 acres, six-bedroom
Tetworth Hall, four miles from Sandy, was the first
big residential estate sale of the year. The 18th-century
mansion was snapped up by a local buyer in June, when
land prices were at their peak, less than three weeks
after it came on the market. The estate includes three
farmhouses, 13 cottages and a pheasant shoot. Mark
McAndrew, head of farms and estates, says: “It
sold for more than the guide price following stiff
competition.”
3 Sold! September, £15m Channel
Islands
The first Channel Island to go on
sale for years, Herm, famed for its white sands speckled
with thousands of colourful shells, came on the market
in May. Available on a 40-year lease, the property
includes a manor house, a 13th-century chapel, 80
acres of farmland with a dairy herd and what is thought
to be the world’s smallest jail. Its owner also
has to run the daily 22-ton ferry, the Herm Seahorse,
which links the island with Guernsey, 20 minutes away.
It was sold through Knight Frank and Martel Maides
to a local couple who will continue to run it as a
holiday business. They will also be able to take advantage
of their own tax haven, paying 20% on income and avoiding
death duties and capital-gains tax.
4 Sold! September, £25m Norfolk
When it went on sale in August,
Kelling Hall, near Cromer, was the most expensive
estate to come onto the market this year. The property,
which has 13 bedrooms and is set in 1,600 acres, with
seven cottages and 20 further properties, exchanged
contracts at the guide price. It was bought by Gary
Widdowson, 50, a former showjumper and the owner of
Metal & Waste Recycling. Estimated to be worth
£160m, he also owns a private dock on the River
Thames. A friend said: “He and his wife had fallen
in love with the estate and were keen to be part of
the community.” Tom Goodley, a partner in the
Norwich office of the selling agent, Strutt &
Parker, says: “It sold within eight weeks. We
are extremely pleased, considering what has happened
in the financial world.”
5 Stuck! £25m Dorset
A rich man’s toy, rather than
a working estate, Encombe House, set in 2,000 acres,
was described by Mark McAndrew, head of farms and
estates at the joint selling agent, Strutt & Parker,
as “an exceptional and entrancing place”
when it launched in September. Three months on, it
is still for sale after the collapse of two deals.
The Grade II*-listed, 13-bedroom Georgian house is
surrounded by 60 acres of formal gardens and parkland,
and has a pool and a Grecian-style temple. Had it
come onto the market a year earlier, it would probably
have fetched more than £25m, but it is expected
to sell for just below that in the next few months.
Savills, 020 7409 8882, www.savills. co.uk; Strutt
& Parker, 020 7629 7282, www.struttandparker.co.uk
6 Stuck! £10m Cornwall
The Morval estate, 2½ miles
outside Looe, runs to 1,130 lush acres, and came to
the market in May when the bluebells were still in
flower. Now the ground is blanketed in a white frost,
the Kitson family, who are selling the property, still
haven’t found a buyer. The pheasant shoot may
be famous locally, and the views spectacular –
morval means “sea view” – but there
is no main manor house to show off. Any new owner
will need either to gain planning permission for a
new property or to persuade one of the tenants of
the three let farms and few dozen cottages to move
out. The rental income for the estate is £148,800.
It is 20 miles from Plymouth and 35 from Newquay airport,
from which there are daily flights to London. There
are also two Lords of the Manorships of Morval and
Penarth, available by separate negotiation. Savills;
020 7499 8644, www.savills.co.uk
7 Stuck! £13m Hampshire
Lord Irvine Laidlaw, the owner of
Moundsmere Manor, may be wishing he had taken up one
of the offers close to the £14m guide price
when the property went on sale in 2006. He is still
looking for a buyer for his country pile, set in 84
acres at Preston Candover, despite having cut the
price by £1m in the spring. Laidlaw, who lives
in Monaco, bought it for £9m in 2005, but has
yet to spend a night in any of the 15 bedrooms. Savills,
020 7409 8823, www.savills.co.uk; Knight Frank, 020
7629 8171, www.knightfrank.co.uk
8 Sold! October, £10m Dorset
Even Thornhill Park, in Blackmoor
Vale, couldn’t completely defy the credit crunch.
The eight-bedroom house, part Renaissance villa, part
English stately home, and set in 104 acres of gardens
and grounds, came onto the market in November last
year with a guide price of £12m. It finally
sold this October to an unknown British buyer after
a £2m reduction.
9 Stuck! £10m North Yorkshire
Sawley Hall, a boxy, ochre-coloured
early-Georgian house at the centre of a 950-acre sporting
estate near Harrogate, went on sale in May. The immaculately
restored property has 10 bedrooms, four reception
rooms, a trophy room, three cottages, courtyard stables,
a trout pond and a deer park. The estate has a nice
round price tag, and has attracted lots of interest
and even one serious offer, but that came to nothing,
so it is still available. Savills; 020 7409 8882,
www.savills.co.uk
10 Sold! September, £25m Norfolk
The Easton agricultural estate sold
for just below the guide price when it came onto the
market in September. Spanning 2,417 acres, it includes
a restored Georgian principal house with five reception
rooms and 12 bedrooms, surrounded by formal gardens
with a swimming pool, as well as a coach house, three
farmhouses, 25 cottages and one staff flat. It went
to a British buyer who had been looking for a suitable
estate for five years. Nearby, the 1,098-acre High
House estate is still for sale for £9.5m.
CKD Kennedy Macpherson, 020 7409
1944, www.ckd.co.uk; Strutt & Parker, 020 7629
7282, www.struttandparker.co.uk
______________________________________
Super Prime Property is
staying TOP OF THE PILE
Friday, 1st
August 2008
Source : Times Online
Owning a fancy London home on a notable road has recently
lost some of its appeal. The rate of house price falls
in London has overtaken that of the rest of the UK,
Land Registry data out this week shows, with the average
price in the capital now just £345,136, down
2.5per cent in June. These falls are being blamed
on the decline of prime: just a few months ago, the
prime market was resilient in the face of economic
gloom and the credit crunch, but now Knight Frank,
the top-end agent, reports a decline of as much as
10 per cent in the value of homes up to £2 million.
The problem
is that the owners of prime homes priced under £3
million are dominated by City workers and corporate
managers, who have been unnerved by the economic upheavals
- a change from recent boom years, when the bonus
season sparked months of property one-upmanship. Prime
property transactions are down 50 per cent, Knight
Frank says, compared with 39 per cent across all price
ranges in England and Wales reported by the Land Registry.
But observers
are taking comfort from the super-prime market, which
Knight Frank now defines as homes priced over £10
million. There is a perception that super-prime will
inevitably suffer a turnaround in fortunes in line
with that experienced by mainstream prime. But Liam
Bailey, Knight Frank's head of research, thinks that
it may fleetingly have caught a cold. He explains:
“When the credit crunch hit, the super-prime
market was the first to stutter. Between October and
February super-prime was dead, because of the chatter
about changes to non-dom tax rules and nervousness
about London's future as a financial centre. But super-prime
prices are now higher than a year and even six months
ago.”
High net-worth
foreign buyers are choosing to stay put in London,
seemingly unaffected by economic worries. Paul Tabor,
of the property search agent Garrington, says that
the rise of countries such as China and India is helping
to sustain demand for the best London homes, which
are - as ever - in short supply. The result is, as
Liam Bailey says, “we are selling twice as many
super-prime houses as a year ago. We have still got
sealed-bid situations or best and final offers on
properties above £8 million, and there is very
little discounting.”
For those with a
home worth less, experts counsel against feeling too
downcast. Yolande Barnes, of Savills, expects prime
property to rebound sharply when conditions brighten
- a view shared by Liam Bailey.
The
Bishops Avenue : Where the money still talks
Tuesday, 29 January 2008
Source : The Telegraph
For a house which resembles a chapel of remembrance
at an American military cemetery, it is quite a coup.
The sale of Toprak Mansion, in The Bishops Avenue,
Highgate, north London, last week for "just short"
of its £50 million asking price might seem an
extravagance at the best of times. In the middle of
a credit crunch, when the US and probably our own
economies are heading for recession, it comes across
as a surprising postscript to the property boom.
Top whack: Toprak Mansion marks
a revival for The Bishops Avenue
Toprak Mansion, built
by Turkish entrepreneur Halis Toprak in the early
1990s, is more of a house than it looks from its façade.
The 33,000 sq ft property, in two acres of gardens,
has an 80ft-wide ballroom, a marble Turkish bath and
underground parking for 28 Rolls-Royces. Nevertheless,
it had been on the market for nearly three years,
and lies in a street which, despite its reputation
as "Billonaire's Row" appeared to be going
downhill fast.
The recent history
of The Bishops Avenue has been one of dereliction,
squatters, unseemly planning battles, unsold homes
and, in some cases, falling prices. Number 5 sold
for £3·15 million in February 2001 and
again for £3·05 million in June 2005.
The Bishops Avenue
has always invited intrigue. On New Year's Eve, 1984,
Greek Cypriot fashion tycoon Aristos Constantinou
was shot dead in his private chapel. In the early
Nineties, the street lost another prominent resident
when Asil Nadir fled to Northern Cyprus to escape
charges of theft totalling £34 million.
But the rot set in
during the Nineties when the borough of Barnet decided
to list some of the original Edwardian houses. The
council's opinion of the likes of Toprak Mansion,
set out in its planning notes for the street, is damning:
"The quality of architecture is often dull or
aggressively modern. Many have taken the desire to
impress to new heights and pay no regard to the vernacular
architecture but rather reflect the vagaries of the
individual whim of their owners."
Simon Edwards, of
Savills, says: "One of the attractions of The
Bishops Avenue was that you could pretty much do what
you like because there were no planning restrictions.
But when Barnet listed some of the properties, it
substantially devalued them. The developers who owned
one argued that Barnet had no power to list the properties,
but the council won in court."
Avenue on sale: Six beds, sauna and garden for £8·1
million, Seven beds, staff quarters and leisure complex
for £22 million.
Some peeved owners chose to let buildings decay while
they battled with the planners to replace modest Edwardian
houses with grand mansions or apartment blocks. No
44 was left derelict for over a decade. Matters reached
a head in 2001 when squatters camped at another derelict
property, Jersey House.
Things began to improve,
however, in 2005 when permission was given to replace
No 44 with two blocks of 12 apartments. Indian steel
tycoon Lakshmi Mittal, who lives next door, complained
that the flats would impinge upon his privacy. But
the apartments, which will be known as Allingham Court
and will be marketed by Barratt Homes next month,
have helped to remove an eyesore.
Barratt declines
to disclose prices, but there is a chance they might
just be in range of North Londoners made good. "In
the Seventies and Eighties, the street lost a bit
of its community spirit," says Trevor Abrahamsohn
of Glentree International, which sold Toprak Mansion.
"But it has started to regain that. With the
development of apartment blocks there are at last
some properties which English and European buyers
can afford."
Fall in London
house asking prices could signal easing across the
country
Friday, 24 August 2007
Source : Timesonline
Asking prices for properties in London have fallen
for the first time in a year, bringing hope that softer
conditions in the capital could ease affordability
pressures across the country.
Rightmove, the property
website, said that London asking prices, which had
risen by around 2 per cent per month for the past
year, fell by 0.1 per cent in the past month.
The data suggested
that sellers are adopting more realistic pricing expectations
as purchasers struggle to cope with the impact of
five rises in interest rates over the past year and
mounting global economic uncertainty.
Across England and
Wales, prices were up by a modest 0.6 per cent in
August, compared with 0.3 per cent in July. That took
the annual rate up to 12.8 per cent from 10.3 per
cent last month.
Despite the rise, Rightmove said that the trend was
consistent with house prices increasing more in line
with wage inflation for the foreseeable future.
Miles Shipside, commercial
director of Rightmove, said that the weaker figures
for London were an early indicator of the market’s
direction. “This fall is the first we have seen
for some time and is an early warning signal that
even the buoyant London economy is susceptible to
market forces,” he said. “The capital and
international status of London means that prices are
likely to be more resilient in the longer term, unless
the current turmoil in the financial market undermines
employment and wealth creation.”
Although City bonuses
- a key factor at the top end of the market - may
be well down at the end of this year and in early
2008, it is too early for them to be having much impact.
Figures from Nationwide
last month suggested that the UK market is finally
slowing down, after a “mini-boom” which
lasted a year and a half and which saw the revival
of double-digit property inflation.
If the weakness reported
by Rightmove spreads nationwide, it would lower pressure
on the Bank of England to move swiftly with another
interest-rate rise. The Bank had suggested in this
month’s Inflation Report that a sixth rise might
be needed to stem infla-tionary pressures, but expectations
of an imminent move have dropped after soft inflation
numbers and amid chaos in the financial markets.
_____________________________________
Slowdown
in London House Prices
Friday, 24 August 2007
Source : Ian Springett, Chief Executive of www.primelocation.com
The prime London sales market has produced tremendous
consecutive month-on-month price growth in recent
times. The figures from July’s data highlighting
a slowdown are significant, but only for the reason
that we are seeing the end of a seventeen month trend
of unprecedented price rises. However, we are not
seeing overall prime London property values in decline.
Indeed, prices are still rising, albeit more slowly
than in previous months. With stock levels still some
20% lower than in July 2005, the supply of property
is currently not returning to the market fast enough
to significantly impact current price inflation levels.
In addition, the fundamental component of demand is
still supporting the market, primarily through international
investors and City employees. We do, however, expect
a continued softening of price growth towards the
end of 2007.
"The prime country
market has really started to perform, with a much
healthier balance of demand and supply underpinning
steady price rises over the last few months. It is
no surprise to see double-digit growth across the
South East as the activity in London ripples out into
the Home Counties, an increasing area of interest
for overseas buyers and those looking to move from
the capital.
"Prime London
rental property prices continue to thrive, up 10.5%
annually. Seasonal rental supply should peak over
the next month or two, which may erode the level of
price inflation temporarily, but we expect prices
to continue with robust growth for the rest of the
year."
______________________________________
Nearly half of all
prime country houses in the South East are being bought
by buyers from overseas, a new report reveals
Wednesday, 25 August
2007
Source: Country Life
Buyers from overseas are responsible for sweeping
up 43% of prime country property in the UK. The latest
findings from Knight Frank report that prices of country
houses grew by an average of 3.3% in the second quarter
of this year.
Manor houses continue
to be the strongest performing country house sub sector,
with average growth of 4.1% in the quarter. The average
price of a manor house now stands at over £3.1million.
Further down the scale, the average price of farmhouses
increased by 3.0%, while cottages increased by 2.8%.
Price growth has
been led by the most expensive brackets: properties
worth £4million and above rose by 21.2% in value
compared to 8.5% for those priced at under £1million.
Knight Frank's Head
of Residential Research, Liam Bailey, comments: 'Payment
of City bonuses together with an increasing international
presence in the country house market has aided price
growth. Cottages have increased price by 2.8% to average
a little over £562,000 while the price of farmhouses
increased by 3.0% to an average price of just over
£1,311,000.
The South West region was the best performing region
in the UK with property prices increasing by an average
of 5.3% in the first quarter of the year.
Knight Frank say
that the indicators from London are positive at the
top end (above £3 million) with rapid turnover,
low supply and high demand. The mid prime market (£1-3
million) is more subdued.
'In the year to June
2007, overseas buyers accounted for 14% of all prime
country house purchases. That figure rises to 43%
in the South East of England above £5 million.
At this level the share of the super-prime market
is taken by: 29% European, 9% Russian, 1% US, 2% Asian,
2% Middle Eastern, 1% Rest of the World.'
Top ten counties
for price growth, 12 months to June 2007
County | % price growth, 12 months to June 2007
East Sussex | 27.5%
Wiltshire |25.0%
Cornwall | 24.6%
Kent | 17.9%
Somerset | 16.0%
Hampshire | 15.9%
Surrey | 15.8%
Buckinghamshire | 15.8%
Dorset | 14.5%
Berkshire | 13.7%
______________________________________
Prices in prime central London continue to soar, due
to an unprecedented lack of supply
Monday,
20 August 2007
Source: Country Life
London prices continue to grow at an incredible rate
according to Knight Frank, which has recorded the
highest monthly rate of growth in the capital –
3.6% – since its records began in 1976. It also
says the annualised rate - 36.4% in the 12 months
to July. Their research found this is the fastest
rate of growth in the capital since 1979 and means
that prices in central London are now rising faster
than the wider UK market by almost three times, with
Belgravia and Knightsbridge leading the way.
Evidence of
this becomes obvious when prices per square foot are
examined: exceptional London properties are now hitting
£3,000 per sq ft, while Knight Frank says some
are even breaking through the £4,000 per sq
ft barrier; prices unmatched in the rest of the world.
One of the reasons for this huge leap in prices is
the demand for top-level property in central London
from foreign buyers, points out the agent. Over 61%
of all property sales over £4m in this area
go to buyers form overseas it says, who tend to hold
onto their properties for a long time, and don't release
a property onto the market when they buy one.
'We have seen a phenomenal market in central London
in recent years – led by a strong City economy,
very healthy bonus rounds and growing employment and
population levels in London. But this is only one
half of the story – the demand side,' said Liam
Bailey head of residential research at Knight Frank.
He pointed out that foreign buyers are keener to hang
onto their property, even after their period in London
– be it for work or pleasure – is over.
Property in the capital is now seen as such a good
investment that houses are not coming back onto the
market in the way they used to. In 2004, according
to this research an average foreign landlord letting
a property after first having occupied it would only
hold it for an average of nine months before sale.
In 2007 the figure was 20 months, and is still rising,
hence the idea that good London property is 'disappearing'.
______________________________________
Peace, quiet and property prices could be under
threat in southern England if proposals to introduce
a new flight path go ahead
Monday, 20 August
2007
Source: Country Life
The National Air
Traffic Service (NATS) has proposed to create a new
flight path over some of the most cherished and tranquil
countryside in England.
The flight path will
cut right through the Cotswolds and the North Wessex
Downs, slice down the Test Valley and bisect the New
Forest – through the middle of the two Areas
of Outstanding Natural Beauty and a national park.
If this proposal goes ahead, flights on this new route
will run throughout the night and they will start
as early as April next year.
Airplanes will pass
as low as 5,500ft, generating up to 70 decibels of
noise. At this volume, the sound of an aircraft overhead
is equal to that of a car at 40mph passing about 20ft
away. According to the national Tranquillity Map,
plotted by the CPRE, this same area is a rare survivor,
one of the least disturbed by noise pollution in England.
The proposal also has another
dimension. Some 30 airplanes a night will travel along
it to begin with, but there is nothing to stop it
being used far more heavily by the two southern airports
– Bournemouth and Southampton – it is designed
to service. Essentially, a five-mile-wide 'motorway'
in the sky is being created and it will inevitably
generate traffic. Passenger numbers are forecast to
triple at Bournemouth airport within 10 years, from
one million to three million; Southampton currently
handles fewer than two million passengers, but that
number is also expected to triple by 2015, and double
again to six million by the year 2030.
'We are constantly
reviewing airspace. It is a rolling process,' declares
a NATS spokesman.
______________________________________
