Welcome to Lees Associates’ regular look at what’s new in the prime residential market, compiled from the best of London’s leading real estate professionals and property experts.
Please visit contributor websites for more information.
This month’s selection all comes via that bastion of PCL news reporting, PrimeResi. In this edition we look at:
A shift in demographics amongst younger luxury property owners.
Why bigger is better among PCL buyers.
How PCL is bucking the transaction trough trend seen elsewhere.
A seismic shift in luxury property ownership demographics
PrimeResi report that US luxury property agency Luxury Portfolio International latest survey shows that over half (54%) of luxury homeowners under 35 are now women, which it attributes to “more women climbing the corporate ladder and achieving financial success on their own”. The figure across all age groups has also risen from 44% in 2020 to 49% in 2023. Overall they report that there is now roughly an equal percentage of men and women at the top of the corporate ladder.
This is very encouraging to see and it is something we ourselves have seen evidence of among our private residential clients in and around London. The stale image of wealthy property owner being an older male is well and truly consigned to history!
Read more:
Bigger is better in PCL
While transaction volumes in 2023 are lower than 2022, PrimeResi report a trend seen by luxury property agency Beauchamp Estates of both higher value and larger floor area sales. Average deal sizes over £15 million have risen from £21 million in 2022 to £30 million in 2023. And, of those, the average house size has risen from 7,000 sq ft to 11,200 sq ft and the average apartment/penthouse from 4,844 sq ft to 5,232 sq ft.
Beachamp Estates attribute this change to the fact that the majority of purchasers at this level are now seen to be buying their primary residence. Furthermore, “most analysts anticipate PCL average prices to rise by around 20%” over the next five years… This is why London real estate continues to attract the global super-rich”.
For our part, we have definitely seen an increase in our average project size and value in the last year, with at least two projects in London that would comfortably fall into the “super-prime” category, and two others outside of London. We are always conscious, though, that ours is a narrow window into a much bigger overall market so it is interesting to see our own experience reflected more generally.
Read more:
Super-size super-prime: Why billionaires are scaling-up in London
PCL continue to buck trends seen elsewhere
As mentioned above, transactions in the last few months have fallen markedly but PrimeResi reports on Savills’ analysis of new TwentyCi data showing how the PCL markets of Kensington & Chelsea and Westminster have seen an increase in sales, up 36% and 22% respectivelly on 2019 data. Of course, buyers in these areas are typically cash- and equity-rich buyers who are more immune to interest rate hikes but it is further proof of the strength of the prime central London residential market, despite the various self-inflicted economic crises the government seems intent on lurching between.
Read more:
RBKC & Westminster among hotspots bucking transaction trough