London property expert Simon Barnes, owner of H.Barnes & Co, looks at the prime central London property market and asks if October and November is a good time to buy or sell your London property; what issues will affect your decision to act now and whether or not you are best to wait until next year.
“In Prime Central London, October and November is a good time to sell London property because, after this, stock becomes limited. Sellers who have not sold by mid-November will inevitably sit tight until the spring. Current market conditions mean that price is key for buyers looking in London.
If a London property which came on the market in September has still not sold, it’s more than likely to be too expensive and this creates a degree of ‘wiggle room’ for determined buyers.
Serious buyers are educated buyers and will have a keen eye for which properties are overpriced and which are priced to sell. They will have a good grasp of their market place. However, the flip side of waiting too long for prices to come down is that anything could happen by the end of the year and that may work against them as well as for them.
London Property in January
Come January, new properties will make their way onto the market and those which were available before Christmas but did not sell, will be jostling with competition from fresh stock and more likely to increase their asking prices to reflect the prices of new to market instructions. So a word of caution is that by leaving it until 2019 buyers may risk losing their window of negotiation with a seller who is desperate to agree a sale before this year ends.
Savvy buying agents know that estate agents have the ability to dig deep and reach for a second file at this time of year. In real terms, serious buyers having looked and rejected everything on the market now will be a reason for agents to pick up the phone, delve into their property bank and potentially uncover a few ‘not officially on the market’ properties.
We are always busy from now until Christmas trying to negotiate property deals before the New Year for clients who want to enjoy Christmas knowing that they have their new home all wrapped up. Like a lot of business in London, it comes down to who you know as much as what you know and on that note, I’d say that if you are determined to buy before Christmas there’s no time like the present.”
London Property: H. Barnes & Co is joint selling agent with Knight Frank’s Knightsbridge office for this £22.5m penthouse in Montpelier Walk, Knightsbridge, London SW7
Simon Barnes looks at property portals, dedicated agents and why you need to get expert property advice when selling your most costly asset