Superprime London homebuyers vanish – here’s where high-end demand remains

The latest research by London lettings and estate agent, Benham and Reeves, has found that demand for homes listed at £10m and above across London’s prime suburbs has tumbled to just 2%; with a number of areas seeing no demand for housing at all.

Benham and Reeves looked at prime London’s property hotspots and the demand for homes listed at £2-5m, £5-10m and £10m, to see how the current pandemic is impacting homeowner appetite for London’s priciest properties.

See the full data tables for each price threshold here.

The £2-5m market

At the lower end of the capital’s prime property market, demand remains fairly robust at 15% on average.

Richmond is the most in-demand of all prime London locations at this price bracket, with 40% of all homes listed still under offer or SSTC despite the spread of the Coronavirus.

Barnes (38%), Clapham (32%), Wimbledon (29%) and Chiswick (28%) are also amongst the most popular.

The £5-10m market

Moving up a price bracket, demand drops to 10%, however, there remain a number of areas where homebuyer activity remains robust.

Again, Barnes (56%), Wimbledon (33%) and Richmond (25%) remain popular, joined by Pimilcio (19%).

However, at this price bracket demand for housing is currently non-existent in Fitzrovia, Marylebone, Maida Vale, Regents Park, Canary Wharf, Battersea, Wandsworth and Chiswick.

The £10m+ market

It is the super-prime threshold that has seen homebuyer demand take the biggest hit.

With demand as a whole at just 2%, there are a total of 13 areas where demand sits at 0%, with a further seven areas where no homes are listed above this threshold.

Highgate is the most in-demand at 8%, along with Notting Hill (6%), Knightsbridge (5%), Mayfair (4%) and Chelsea (2%).

See the full data tables for each price threshold here.

Director of Benham and Reeves, Marc von Grundherr, commented:

“In times of crisis, the UK property market relies upon factors of necessity amongst home movers such as death, divorce and employment patterns. However, the present situation is preventing all but the most committed buyers from transacting and this is no different in the prime and super-prime echelons of the London market.

In theory, current conditions should suit the capital’s super-wealthy as this area of the market has always been about quality over quantity, private sales and the purchase of homes that lay empty and ready to be lived in.

But the spread of the Coronavirus is having a big impact on buyer sentiment and this is remarkably evident in areas where there is currently no buyer demand at all; a phenomenon rarely seen in a market as popular as London.

Prime work hubs such as Battersea and Canary Wharf have seen offices close and companies tighten their belts with employment, with demand dropping off as a result.

The economic consequences of the current pandemic are causing even the wealthiest of buyers to put a second London home purchase on ice, both due to the financial commitment and the fear of an almost immediate drop in values should the market crash.

In addition to this, restrictions around living have had a big impact on the traditionally popular areas of Belgravia, Fitzrovia, Holland Park and other areas within the inner city.

What we are seeing is a consistent level of demand in more peripheral areas with the sought after features of a lockdown purchase such as Richmond, Barnes and Clapham.

These areas generally allow for more space both within the property and its grounds and more bricks and mortar for your money. They are home to a greater abundance of nearby green space in the immediate vicinity and are less densely populated than the majority of inner London areas. All of which are features that are currently resonating with high-end buyers, until the dust has settled at the very least.”