London's property market continues to be a tale of two cities. Prices in the prime central area rose 11 per cent in the year to March, figures from Knight Frank show. However, across Greater London, they rose only 2 per cent, Nationwide bank reveals.
According to Hamptons International, the W8 postcode covering the prime districts of Kensington and Holland Park had the strongest-performing housing market last year, with prices rising 14.8 per cent to reach an average of GBP1,466 (HK$18,000) per square foot. The rise was driven by wealthy foreigners who wanted homes in the capital because they perceive it as a safe haven.
Adam Challis, head of research at Hamptons International, forecasts central locations will be London's best-performing housing markets this year, although areas along the route of Crossrail, a train line that will connect the city centre with Heathrow Airport and Canary Wharf from 2018, will benefit too.
'Prime London will continue to outperform Greater London averages, but areas that can take advantage of improving regional employment conditions in central London, or leverage new infrastructure such as Crossrail, should also make gains,' Challis says. 'This means locations such as the City Fringe, Farringdon, South Bank and Paddington have great prospects for the next couple of years.'
According to the report 'Rental Britain', published by Savills and Rightmove last month, London's private rented sector remains undersupplied despite expanding rapidly to encompass 27 per cent of all homes in the city.
'There has been an explosion in the private rental sector over the past five years and there is every likelihood that this will continue over the next five years,' says Lucian Cook, research director at Savills. He believes the London Borough of Islington will produce Britain's best capital growth over the next 10 years.