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A warning to vendors: “small price cuts won’t cut it.”
Black Brick Buying Agent, Camilla Dell, has once again shared her insights into the current UK property buying market this week.
Speaking in Estate Agent Today, Camilla warned that “forecasts of house price growth made at the end of last year are falling like skittles”, citing how SaviIls is the latest firm to trim its expectations, blaming a mixture of geopolitics and changes to Stamp Duty thresholds, for a slower-than-expected first half of the year.
“As a result, it has cut its prediction of UK house price growth this year down to just one per cent, with a total of 24.5% growth over five years.”
Read the full article here.
Agent warning to vendors: ‘Small price cuts won’t cut it’
Despite early optimism, the property market is still a buyer’s market this year.
Against the backdrop of house prices increasing by by 0.6% between June and July, Black Brick Managing Partner and experiences buying agent, Camilla Dell shared her insights to The Estate Agent Today, citing how firms like Savills are beginning to lower expectations for UK house price growth.
Read more of the insights into the current UK housing market here.
Our warning against the Government ‘social engineering’ downsizers
West Country buying agent Rupert Stephenson, of Black Brick’s Country & Coast Department, spoke with Marc Shoffman, of Estate Agent Today, to share his insights into how the Government is impacting the current UK property market.
Reflecting on the tax rises and IHT reforms expected to be announced in the upcoming Autumn Budget, Rupert commented that older homeowners have been especially spooked by the prospect of paying more, and suggested that this could lead to an increase in larger homes being put up for sale.
“I definitely saw this trend emerging in the last year of people who probably should have moved in their late 70s and early 80s but had put it off because of the pandemic starting to downsize. They wanted to quickly pass on their wealth to their children.”
Read the full article here.
Black Brick buying agency boosted by increased cash sales
Speaking in Estate Agent Today, Black Brick Founder reflects on what has been an incredibly successful time for our prime property buying agency.
“It has been an interesting year for the prime central London (PCL) property market. The increase in the volume of clients we are looking after this year compared to last year demonstrates the value that buyers are placing on having a professional to represent their interests in a challenging market.
We have seen a dramatic increase in cash buyers, with the number of cash buyers doubling year on year. This demonstrates that for many high-net-worth buyers, the use of finance is discretionary. The pivot to cash was inspired by interest rates, which jumped from 0% in 2021 to 5.25 per cent today. When interest rates were low even some very wealthy high net worth buyers used mortgage finance, mainly because it was a simple way of protecting themselves from inheritance tax which is only charged on the equity you own in a property.”
Read more in the full article here.
Why is the property market joining the podcast party?
Podcasts are on the rise, and the property market hopping on the bandwagon in an effort to keep up.
We shared our input as to why Black Brick buying agency has set up a podcast, too, this week in Estate Agent Today.
Read the full article here.
Why Buy To Let is losing its appeal
As one of the most respected buying agents in London, our opinions at Black Brick are backed by decades of experience and expertise.
This week, our Founder Camilla Dell shared in Estate Agent Today why she believes the buy-to-let property market in London is starting to lose popularity amongst investors.
Sharing insights from Black Brick’s 2021 review, Camilla shared that whilst people are increasingly interested in apartment properties, buyers are “far more discerning than before the pandemic”.
“Outside space and proximity to a good local high street are top of buyers wish lists. We are seeing a very tough market for sellers of ex-rental stock located in older new builds, some with cladding issues and which are poorly located and without outside space. There is no market for them, no matter how cheap they become.”, she said.
Read more in the full article here.
“No market” for some prime London flats without outside space
At Black Brick buying agency, we’re starting to see that whilst the property market in prime central London is getting up and running again, apartments without outdoor space are still unpopular.
Perhaps a reflection of the realisations we found during the pandemic, our Founder, Camilla Dell expanded on why there is currently not much market for premium London flats that lack outside space or garden areas, in a new piece for Estate Agent Today.
“Not all apartments are equal. We are seeing an upturn in demand for apartments, but buyers are far more discerning than before the pandemic. Outside space and proximity to a good local high street are top of buyers wish lists. We are seeing a very tough market for sellers of ex-rental stock located in older new builds, some with cladding issues and which are poorly located and without outside space. There is no market for them, no matter how cheap they become.”
Read more in the full article here.
Beware Greeks bearing money to buy in London?
With the Greek economy on the brink, we shared how London’s prime property market will be affected in a new piece for Estate Agent Today.
“As we have seen time and again, economic and political instability brings buyers to London’s prime property market. In recent weeks, we have been advising a number of Greek clients on potential investments in the UK, as the risk of Greece crashing out of the Eurozone looms over the continent and, especially, over Greek savers, who could see their wealth slashed by the effect of any devaluation on domestically held assets”, said Camilla Dell, Founder of Black Brick.
Read more in the full article here.