Purplebricks, the Neil Woodford-backed property company, sees its revenues and profits soar up 814 per cent January 26, 2016 Purplebricks, the hybrid online estate agent which floated on AIM in December, has announced interim results for the six months ending October this morning. The figures Gross profits rocketed up 814 per cent, to £4.1m from £400,000 the year. Revenues were up to £7.2m, from £800,000 his time the year before, a 777 per cent increase. Despite [...]
Say what? It turns out the London doesn’t have the world’s most unaffordable homes – Hong Kong does January 26, 2016 First-time buyers across the London may be struggling to get their hands on a property – but it turns out we don't have the world's most unaffordable homes. That dubious accolade belongs to Hong Kong, where the average home is 19 times people's annual incomes – compared to just 8.5 times in London. Pah. The figures were [...]
Carphone Warehouse to close 134 stores as Dixons Carphone merger success continues January 26, 2016 More than 130 standalone Carphone Warehouse stores are to be closed, as the business continues to merge its retail arms. Parent company Dixons Carphone said it had decided to roll its three-in-one store format, which includes PC World and Currys alongside the phone specialist, out across the whole UK and Ireland market having received a big thumbs up from customers [...]
Overseas investor interest in London commercial property slows as prices come under pressure January 26, 2016 Investor interest in the UK’s commercial property market recorded its slowest rate of growth in more than two years, according to a survey of the country’s leading surveyors, as demand from foreign buyers waned. In its latest quarterly commercial market report, the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) found that buyer enquiries continued to rise in [...]
The amount of equity withdrawn by remortgaging properties reached £837m in December 2015, while equity release lending hit £1.61bn in 2015 January 26, 2016 Equity release activity became frenzied in the later months of last year, with both equity withdrawn by remortgaging properties and total equity release lending levels reaching dizzying heights. According to figures released today by Legal Marketing Services (LMS), a total of £837m was extracted from properties through remortgaging in December 2015, up 32 per cent compared to £635m in December [...]
Top tips for getting your dream home or a quick sale on Open Days January 25, 2016 You could be forgiven for thinking that the queue snaking down your street was for the January sales, but in our property-obsessed times, it’s more likely to be an open house. High demand and low housing supply means vendors – especially those selling properties in the affordable bracket – are inundated with potential buyers. And [...]
Going for gold: Bullion prices are rising as equity markets wobble and experts say gold could hit $1,300 an ounce this year January 25, 2016 Gold has rallied and analysts are forecasting higher prices this year. Will the precious metal shine in 2016? The market has been rankled by a catalogue of risks, from China’s shifting economy to Middle East geopolitics and slower global growth – all while the US embarks on a path away from from extraordinary monetary policy. “That [...]
Property of the Fortnight: The Muppet Show comes to Camden January 25, 2016 It’s time to play the market for the Muppet House tonight. That’s right, for the first time ever, the Creature Shop that used to house Jim Henson’s furry cast is going on sale as a luxury penthouse. The Henson Building, as it’s still known, is on 30 Oval Road in an imposing Victorian warehouse in [...]
Luxury homes are filling in the gaps on a WWII bomb site in Fitzrovia January 25, 2016 Tucked away on a corner off of Tottenham Court Road, sits a jumble of mismatched buildings. One of them is the epitome of modern urban living – all dark brick boxes and sharp angles – while its neighbours sport austere Georgian facades and regal ribbons of Portland stone. Originally, these were six individual plots, including [...]
Focus On Hackney Wick: Lack of homes and riverside cool is driving up prices on the edge of the Olympic Park January 25, 2016 With its disused warehouses and abandoned commercial buildings lining the banks of Regent’s Canal, a visit to Hackney Wick may not overwhelm you with its promise initially. But look a bit deeper into its property market and the potential of this industrial plain is clear to see. “Hackney Wick is one of east London’s most [...]