The super prime property market in London has suffered amid the coronavirus pandemic, new research shows.
In times of crisis, the prime and super-prime echelons of the capital’s property market have appealed to wealthy investors, but the ongoing crisis has clearly had an adverse impact on buyer sentiment and this is particularly evident in areas where there is currently no buyer demand at all.
Newly released data from Knight Frank has revealed that there has been a 68% drop in the number of super prime property transactions in London during the first half of this year.
The research looks at how 12 key super-prime markets around the world performed in H1 2020 compared to H1 2019 and delves into the number of transactions completed since March 2020 when Covid-19 was officially labelled a pandemic, lockdowns were enforced around the world and international travel ceased.
Total Transaction Volumes
Market |
H1 2019 |
H1 2020 |
March – June 2019 |
March – June 2020 |
Hong Kong |
155 |
60 |
111 |
41 |
Los Angeles |
77 |
52 |
58 |
35 |
New York |
137 |
41 |
100 |
19 |
London |
75 |
24 |
56 |
16 |
Palm Beach and Broward |
29 |
24 |
24 |
10 |
Singapore |
29 |
27 |
24 |
8 |
Sydney |
13 |
15 |
12 |
6 |
Dubai |
17 |
8 |
13 |
6 |
Miami |
25 |
12 |
16 |
4 |
Orange County |
24 |
9 |
21 |
4 |
Geneva |
10 |
8 |
9 |
3 |
Melbourne |
3 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
Flora Harley, global residential research at Knight Frank said: “Whilst the number of transactions were down in 11 of the 12 markets analysed, two markets saw sales volumes increase and over half saw the average value of transactions increase.
“Sydney was the standout market with 15 super-prime sales in the first half of 2020 compared to 13 in the first half of 2019, however looking at the period between March and June period there were only six compared to 12 in the same period last year.”
Total Sales Volumes
Despite the falling number of transactions, average sales values were generally higher. Overall, the global average transaction value increased by 15% for the March to June period, at US$20.7m [£17.6m] compared to US$18m [£15.3m] for the same period in 2019.
London saw the largest increase and takes the top spot with an average transaction value of US$38m [£29.4m], compared to US$16.9m [£13.1m] in 2019 – the average in Geneva also jumped, whilst Hong Kong which usually sits in first place, has fallen to third position.
Paddy Dring, head of global prime sales at Knight Frank, commented: “The impact of Covid-19 has been felt across all our international markets with most coming to all but a complete standstill for a number of months as various lockdown measures were put in place globally. Despite this, there has been some very positive activity in the super prime market with significant sales forging ahead. Hong Kong, New York, Los Angeles and London all witnessed a healthy number of sales despite the conditions.
“London has a particularly interesting story to tell, although transaction volumes were down considerably at the US$10m+ level between March and June 2020 compared to 2019 – it has seen the largest increase in average transaction values – up by US$22m [£17m] compared to average value levels seen the previous year.”
Market |
Total Sales Volume March - June 2019 (US$) |
Total Sales Volume March - June 2020 (US$) |
Hong Kong |
2,351 |
812 |
Los Angeles |
1,098 |
693 |
New York |
1,793 |
363 |
London |
944 |
608 |
Palm Beach and Broward |
333 |
170 |
Singapore |
454 |
130 |
Sydney |
152 |
101 |
Dubai |
173 |
80 |
Miami |
255 |
52 |
Orange County |
309 |
59 |
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Don't worry all these properties will be snapped up by the emigrating Hong Kongers.
When they bring their capital to inevitably London prices will rocket.
All the Russian mafia oligarchs in the world won't be able to compete with wall of capital that the Hong Kongers will bring to the UK.
Under normal circumstances I would be dead against such a mass immigration inflow.
But these aren't your average feckless Romanian gypsies.
We are talking about highly industrious and hard working Hong Kongers.
They will I believe have a massive positive effect on the UK economy.
You only have to look at what the exiled Ugandan immigrants have achieved.
They have through very hard work and industriousness given every locale an open 7 day a week local shop
I remember when they used to shut at 5.
All that lot have long gone.
The Asian shopkeeper has provided the convenience of late opening local shops everywhere.
Will be interesting to see what Hong Kong capital and industriousness bring to the UK economy.
I guess an instant housing shortage for a start!!
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