Winkworth banks on returning London buyers as WFH fades

Major agent reckons we’re off to a brighter start as commuters and international buyers return to the capital and get back to the office.

Winkworth is reporting an optimistic start to the year with the agency saying returning commuters to the Capital and international buyers between them are putting to bed the concept of working from home.

Not only that but also the rise of boutique residential schemes on former commercial sites in central London has heralded an optimistic start to the year.

Dominic Agace (main picture), Chief Executive of Winkworth, with more than 100 offices nationwide, including over 60 across London, told the latest episode of the firms’ The Property Exchange podcast: “The first couple of weeks of January have shown we are in a very different place in the residential property market from the last quarter.

SURGE

“Internationally, China has opened up and there is a huge surge of interest.”

Agace goes onto say that China has always been a big buyer of London property and investment in London.

“They can now travel and for the wealthy, pick up global assets,” he tells the show. “This is good news for central London which was a bit behind other markets as travel was locked down for longer.”

While Agace admits that the mortgage market has affected people’s affordability levels he reckons that his agency is now seeing those costs reduce to below 5% and to a ‘more long-term position’.

“I think we will see interest rates peaking this year. It feels as though we are on the downward slope and we are now reducing to a more long-term norm.”

Taking a swipe at the working from home culture that has developed since the pandemic, Agace says ‘it was a bit of an artificial period’.

CONVICTION

“There was such conviction that things had really changed forever and that people will never go back to the office. We look at the tube and other transport and they are busy with people going back to work.

“The surge to the country has abated and we’re moving to a more normalised situation.”

The weakness of sterling is certainly maintaining demand.”

Adam Stackhouse, Winkworth
Adam Stackhouse, Winkworth

Adam Stackhouse, Head of Developments and Commercial Investmentsat Winkworth, told the podcast: “The weakness of sterling is certainly maintaining demand at a constant. Just under 80% of our recent enquiries are from dollar denominated buyers from countries all over the world where they have their assets held in dollars.

“These are, in many cases, second or third generation investors whose families have invested in the UK real estate market when sterling is weak.

“They step forward when they see that the pound is low because they do believe in the long-term prospects of London property.”

 


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