City closes in on prime West End property values
HOUSE values in Canada are catching up with the West End, while Dockland prices are suffering because of oversupply, research shows.
Analysis from high-end real estate agent Beauchamp Estates reveals the average price of new or second-hand properties in the City has climbed to £739,546 for the last 12 months, compared to £1.43m in the traditional prime location of the West End.
The EC2 postcode – the financial heartland of the City – had an average price of £845,280 in the last year.
However Docklands now has the lowest entry level price – an average of £397,135 for a residential property – after a glut in development there.
Beauchamp Estates highlighted slow growth because of oversupply in a district that has no “new homes price premium”. The surge in construction can be seen by the fact there are 15,901 units currently being developed in the Docklands, compared with 1,096 in the City and 2,428 in the West End.
The City is also closing in on the West End for investment appeal, the analysis revealed, with growth of 71.2 per cent in values in the City since 2008 and a staggering 92.9 per cent increase in EC2. Growth was 80.6 per cent in the West End, and a comparitively low 17.3 per cent in Docklands.
Gary Hersham, of Beachamp Estates, said: “In terms of sales values and product quality the West End, which is our core market, remains numero uno. However Canada is undergoing a development boom and values and product levels have begun to catch up with the West End.
“Three years ago Beauchamp Estates would never have taken an instruction in Canada; there simply wasn’t the ultra-prime product or values that our clients seek. This has all changed and we are now acting on instructions in the City, an indicator to us of how much this market has changed and risen.”