Demand for super prime properties in London surged a record high with sales of homes worth £10m or more jumping by 90% last year, according to Coutts.
Sales lifted to 106 last year from 56 in 2020, led by high-end property sales in Kensington, Notting Hill and Holland Park, says the private bank’s London Prime Property Index.
It adds: “Buyers were undeterred by the 11 per cent increase in the cost of these multi-million-pound homes.”
The final quarter of last year also saw a record number of prime properties change hands, with 44 homes sold in the three-month period, up from 23 in the final quarter in 2020.
The report says: “A market that hit the doldrums in 2020, with only six £10m plus homes sold during the first lockdown, has sky-rocketed with 44 homes sold in the last quarter of 2021 as buyers rushed to snap up luxury real estate as the year drew to a close.”
Coutts chief executive Peter Flavel adds: “For many investors these prime and super prime properties provide the opportunity to put funds into assets that offer the space they need as hybrid living continues to influence lifestyle choices.
“For others, it’s about capitalising on the opportunity to scoop up a home in a central London postcode as prices are lower than before.”
The survey says the picture was similar across the capital’s prime property market – homes worth £1m or more – with demand particularly high outside of central London.
It says greener areas such as Richmond, Wandsworth and Islington saw a spike in prices as buyers sought more space away from central London. Prices increased by almost 11% in Wandsworth and 7% in Richmond.
This move has narrowed the difference between prime property prices at the heart of the capital and its surrounding areas.
The index says the difference between a prime home in central London and other boroughs in the capital is 58%, narrowing from 70% four years ago. Prime property prices in historically expensive areas such as Knightsbridge and Belgravia are now 17% below their 2014 peak.
The survey adds: “The bubble may burst this year, however, with many UK property agents predicting significant growth in central London’s luxury housing market this year.”
