Our latest quarterly London Property Monitor has just hit the streets and it showed some particularly interesting trends in the market. Firstly, I’ll bet most people still think that Prime Central London (PCL) is outpacing all other parts of the market? Well, you’d be wrong. Our data shows that for the past year, ‘outer prime’ or 'Non-Central Prime London' as we call it, has been appreciating at a faster pace than PCL and that continued into the first quarter of 2013.* I think there are a few reasons for this; buyers looking for better value, the relative absence of sales over £2million due to the bedding in of the new 7% stamp duty, investors looking for a better rental return and good capital appreciation, and possibly, the still chronic shortage of properties to sell in all parts of London. In my view, as central London has taken a comparative breather for the past year or so, there is a strong argument that it has got a bit of catching up to do as the differentials come closer together - and we may see PCL surge ahead again later in the year.
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