“In densely populated areas such as Fulham Broadway, properties priced between £1m and £2m are currently experiencing a slower market due to an abundance of similar options, giving buyers more choices,” she says.
“On the other hand, in Southfields, properties costing £1m to £2m are selling rapidly.”
Neil Vickers, a professor at King’s College London, is in the process of selling his four-bedroom terraced house in a sought-after part of Southfields – after a bidding war, the buyer is paying £25,000 over the £1.165m asking price.
“I think people feel they can get good family houses for less than in other nearby areas,” says Mr Vickers, 59.
“A big factor when we moved here with two young sons 17 years ago was the calm, and it’s still like that.”
Despite some eye-catching deals – with sales recently agreed on one property at £40m and another at £80m, according to Jo Eccles, of the prime central London buying agency Eccord – the market for the capital’s most expensive homes is slow.
In May, sales over £5m were 21pc lower than the same month last year, but still 19pc above the average of 2017-2019, according to the analyst LonRes.
Uncertainty caused by changes to the taxation regime for non-domiciled individuals may scare off buyers.
And stamp duty is a key disincentive to buy an expensive home in London right now, says Simon Connell, of the buying agency Property Vision.
“The residential property market is driven by sentiment,” he says.
“Whether they’re upsizing or downsizing, many owners of more expensive homes now feel it’s simply too costly to move within London.”
The price isn’t right
Many property millionaires are still clinging to the prices seen during the pandemic boom, according to Bill Spreckley, of Stacks Property Search, who works in Hampshire, West Sussex and Surrey.
“I cannot stress enough how important the initial asking price is,” he says.
“Anything that’s overpriced will be ignored and properties that are regularly reduced send red flags to buyers.”
Mr Spreckley’s colleague Ed Jephson, who covers Devon for Stacks, says for every 10 houses on the market in the South Hams at around £1m, “only one is correctly priced. Many are overpriced by as much as 10pc to 15pc”.
Jerome Lartaud, of the buying agency Domus Holmes, sees many overpriced properties – including a townhouse in Clifton, Bristol, listed last year for more than £3.5m and now being marketed by another estate agent at an initial price of £3m, since reduced to £2.65m.
However, Mr Lartaud says some homes are still going for their asking prices or even above.
“These ‘best-in-class’ properties are in prime locations, meticulously and sympathetically renovated to high standards, and well-maintained,” he says.
Renting out homes instead
Some owners of expensive properties in the Cotswolds that are struggling to sell are renting them out instead – either as short or long-term lets through the Cotswold Letting Agency.
The firm’s Olly Symonds says: “This means the property brings in revenue until a buyer comes along.”
