Country market booms

The prime residential property advisers said that while there has been over 150 houses in Westminster, Kensington and Chelsea asking more than £10m over the last year, less than a quarter were actually sold.

Ellingworth said: “We tend to focus on London because that is the driver of what happens elsewhere. However, this year has been the first since 2008 that the country market has boomed.

“Why? First, a sense that the arbitrage between London and the country is compelling: a very ordinary house in Fulham can be traded for something pretty special in the country.

“Secondly, a feeling that even if London trades higher, the risk of never being able to trade back into London has subsided.

“And thirdly, that the time has come to get on with things and stop kicking tyres; missing a house in competitive bidding puts buyers on their metal.”

Property Vision said the £2m mansion tax proposals were on buyer’s minds in addition to the prospect of a base rate rise.

Ellingworth added: “There is a strong sense of an inflection point being reached: London experiencing a slowing of momentum, interest rates bottoming, more talk of a mansion tax than potential capital gains and the country market coming alive after six years of relative underperformance.

“There is nothing dramatic about this and there are plenty of examples of transactions that fly in the face of the general trend.

“Barring exogenous shocks, it is likely that this will be the tone for the rest of this year and the first half of 2015.”