Have a right royal time in Fergie’s former apartment October 24, 2013 Sarah Ferguson’s old flat in Battersea, where she reputedly entertained Princess Di, goes on sale for £1m CAST yourself back to London in 1985 at the height of Thatcher’s reign, ill-judged perms and Dead or Alive’s music career. Partying away in a two bedroom flat around the corner from Clapham Junction and the Battersea Arts [...]
Developer jumping into virtual world to showcase new homes October 24, 2013 Managing director of London developer St George shows Melissa York around their new, hi-tech show suite in Mayfair A BOX of light glows on the top of a miniature tower, signifying a new home. A tap of a tablet later and a screen stretching from floor-to-ceiling presents you with a high-definition view from your new [...]
Q & A October 24, 2013 DIRECTOR, DOUGLAS & GORDON Figures in the press give me the impression I’ve missed the buying boat. Have I? The trouble with statistics is they can be interpreted in different ways. The only sure-fire stat is offered by the Land Registry, which values a range of properties and tells us that, while UK average house [...]
Focus on… Mayfair: The playground of the international super-rich October 24, 2013 IF YOU grew up in Britain, chances are you’ll know Mayfair is the most expensive property in Monopoly. In the classic game, buying the dark blue street sets you back an astronomical… £400. These days you’ll do well to buy a square centimetre in Mayfair with that kind of money. The area’s grand regency mansions [...]
Private View: On the market in Mayfair this week October 24, 2013 PARK LANE PLACE, W1 £5.95m Three bed, three bathroom apartment on the 7th floor with a balcony and access to the leisure facilities of the Marriott Hotel. Contact Harrods Estates on 020 7409 9001 MOUNT ROW, W1K £7m Three double ensuite bedrooms with walnut wooden flooring throughout. Close to Mount Street and Grosvenor Square. Contact [...]
London Barometer October 24, 2013 DIRECTOR, DOUGLAS & GORDON PRIME central (PC) and prime south west (PSW) London continue to be polar opposites; buyers are not paying asking prices in PC but are driving prices up in PSW. With stock levels down 35 per cent on last year, it’s telling that purchases in PC often follow a price reduction; this [...]
US trade deficit increases in August but is not expected to impact growth October 24, 2013 The US trade deficit widened slightly in August to $38.80bn, from July's figure of $38.64bn (revised from $39.15bn). Analysts epxected that it would fall to $39.50bn. Paul Ashworth, chief US economist at Capital Economics, says the deficit suggests "that net external trade had a neutral impact on overall third-quarter GDP growth", which Capital Economics estimate [...]
US jobless claims drop by 12,000 after being plagued with shutdown and glitches October 24, 2013 After no jobs data we're now back to getting messy data. Before the US government shutdown computer issues in California were playing havoc with jobless claim numbers. Now that the political squabbles have been dealt with (at least temporarily) the statisticians still have to deal with that backlog. So we've seen a lot of revisions [...]
Pictures: Is this the world’s most expensive desk? October 24, 2013 One Mayfair office has received a £500,000 facelift – complete with a very custom £40,000 desk. Patalab Architecture, the firm behind the refurb, call the piece the "Porsche of office furniture". The 5.5 metre sclupted desk is fabricated in cast aluminium with a sprayed bronze, patinated finish. View Larger Map It's now in use in [...]
JP Morgan valued Royal Mail sale at up to £10bn October 24, 2013 JP Morgan told the government earlier this year that it thought Royal Mail could have an equity value of around £7.75bn to £9.95bn, according to Sky News City editor Mark Kleinman. The government floated the company at £3.3bn earlier this month, launching shares at 330p. Taking into account the company's approximately £800m of net debt, [...]