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Activity returns to London’s prime market after 67% slump in instructions

Lonres reveals how the lockdown rules and difficulties of getting listings online hit the capital's housing market hard.

Nigel Lewis

prime market

The prime London housing market took a walloping during the Coronavirus lockdown including a 67% reduction in new instructions, says property data company Lonres. But it says activity is beginning to return since the market was allowed to reopen.

Its research published this morning also reveals that sales transactions dropped by 58% during this period compared to the same time last year, and that the number of new lets plummeted by 70%.

“Earlier this year there were some positive signs for the prime London sales market – more homes were reaching the market and transactions and prices were on the rise,” says Marcus Dixon, head of research at Lonres.

“As the UK locked down we saw some deals progress, but for the majority of buyers and sellers they simply pressed pause on their purchase or listing and waited.

“Since the market has opened for business buyers are returning, and prime London is well placed to take advantage.

“But only a couple of weeks in, it is too early to tell what the impact on our market will be in the short to medium-term.”

Since the market reopened, Dixon says there has been a recovery in the number of new listings, but that sales transaction are still 29% down year-on-year.

The Coronavirus crisis has not prompted a collapse in asking prices yet, though. Asking prices during lockdown held steady but have dropped by 4.2% since the market re-opened as prime vendors have begun to accept lower offers in order to sell their homes.

Read more about Lonres.

June 8, 2020

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