The sub-£2 million market saw a slight dip in London in the first quarter of the year, whilst the market over £2 million didn't seem to be affected with buyers continuing to pour in, according to a new Strutt & Parker report. Stephanie McMahon, Head of Research, said: ‘The £2 -5m and £5m plus have seen exceptional growth both in values and volumes compared to the same period last year. We have seen a dramatic 47.2% increase in the value of homes sold during the first quarter compared to the quarterly average for the past ten years.' Looking at the quarterly averages for the past ten years, Chelsea, South Kensington & Fulham saw a 65% increase in values, with a 17% increase on the number of properties sold. Kensington & Notting Hill also performed strongly, whilst Knightsbridge & Belgravia surprisingly saw a slight dip with a 1.1% decrease in value of transactions, and a 26.7% decrease on the number of homes sold. Strutt & Parker expects Prime Central London prices to continue to rise by around 6.5% in 2014, but just 2% in as the General Election approaches in 2015. Nearly 45% of all Strutt & Parker buyers in central London in the first quarter of this year were originally from overseas, the agent adds. There was a 31.4% increase year-on-year in buyers from Asia (highest in the Knightsbridge and Belgravia area) and a 20.8% decrease in buyers from the Middle East in the same time.
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