The second quarter of 2017 saw over half of prime London properties withdrawn by vendors.
According to LonRes, over 50% of properties in lucrative areas such as Kensington & Chelsea and Westminster were taken off the market during Q2 – something which LonRes have associated with a lack of willingness to reduce high prices.
A previous report conducted by the company indicated that the number of withdrawals appear to increase when changes impact the property market. For example, they stated that the withdrawal rate grew to 62% in 2016, following the introduction of the extra Stamp Duty Land Tax surcharge. This can be compared to the 38% of properties sold in the prime areas during Q2 of 2016 – a proportion which is significantly lower.
Expressing positivity towards the figures from the latest quarter, LonRes stated: “In the second quarter, half of properties removed from the market had found a buyer, compared with just 38% over the same three months last year.
“This, coupled with more encouraging transaction figures emerging from prime central London, could signal a rise in sales activity for the remainder of the year.”
