London luxury prices set to rise

Dec 2, 2011 - PropertyGuru.com.sg
 

Prices of ultra-prime London property will rise as much as 10 percent next year according to billionaire property developer Nick Candy, with increasing demand coming from wealthy Asian buyers.

Nick, together with his brother Christian, are the brains behind One Hyde Park, a £1 billion luxury development in the heart of the U.K. capital.

Speaking exclusively to PropertyGuru on the sidelines of this week’s 2011 South East Asia Property Awards in Singapore, Candy exuded confidence about the potential for the very top end of London’s luxury property sector.

He said: “Prices will rise by between 5 and 10 percent in the next 12 months.  There’s zero supply and there’s growing demand. London is increasingly being viewed as a safe haven, and for overseas buyers the weakness of the sterling means an increasingly good investment in terms of a currency play.”

One Hyde Park is home to the United Kingdom’s most expensive residence –a £166.4 million (S$275 million) penthouse owned by Ukraine's richest man, Rinat Akhmetov. Australian pop star Kylie Minogue is also an owner at the development. Candy said that 63 of the 80 units have now been sold – the latest happening just this week.

Overseas buyers dominate London’s ultra-luxury property market. Candy said: “A year ago the demand was coming from Eastern Europe, but now it’s buyers from Asia who have become increasingly active.”

And developments such as One Hyde Park will struggle to even get off the drawing board in future. Candy said: “There’s simply no finance. The development company responsible for One Hyde Park borrowed  £1.15 billion. That’s not going to happen again anytime soon.”