Foxtons Share Discussion Threads

[ny boy] 10/8/2015 23:12

Prime London property prices could fall by 20% within the next 12 months, a leading buying agency predicts.

Independent agency, Black Brick, says changes to the Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) have increased competition in the sub-£1 million section of the property market at the expense of the higher end of the market.

The change in buying patterns can be seen in the substantial fall of more than £2million in the value of the average Black Brick London property deal.

Camilla Dell, Managing Partner of Black Brick, says, “The policy has also backfired on its own terms, reducing the tax-take to the Treasury – research firm LonRes calculates that Stamp Duty paid for prime London sales is down 6.4% since the reform was introduced compared with the same period last year. This illustrates what the Conservative party has traditionally argued: if you increase rates of tax, you depress the market and end up with less revenue.”

“We are increasingly of the view that it will now take a major market correction – of perhaps 20% – to bring the Prime Central London market back to life, and we believe that correction is likely to take place over the next six to 12 months. All it will take is a vendor or two to accept an offer at a substantially lower price-per-square-foot, and that will ripple through the market.”

The SDLT increase at the upper end of the market is pushing buyers into the sub-£1 million bracket, undermining the Chancellor’s goal of helping buyers at the lower end of the market, she says.

“Prior to the reforms, someone with £2million to invest would have likely bought a single property. Now, a £2million property would carry stamp duty of £153,750, while two £1million properties would be taxed at £43,750 each – encouraging our £2million buy-to-let investor to buy two £1million properties and ‘save’ £66,250 in Stamp Duty.

“Our own data suggests that investors are targeting the lower end – in January to July last year, our average deal value was £3.54million. In the same period this year, that average has fallen to £1.5million.”

[ayl30] 10/8/2015 23:02

Old news? Dated June

[aishah] 10/8/2015 22:38

London based law firm Leigh Day has announced that it is bringing a group claim against Foxtons on behalf of landlords, in a legal case which could see the London estate agent facing a multi-million pound payout.

The case is being taken on behalf of private individual landlords who have used Foxtons either just to let, or to both let and manage, their property.

Do you have a claim? Call us now on freephone 0800 689 3289

The claim is that Foxtons has been charging landlords hidden commissions of as much as 33% of a contractor’s fee for work done on their properties such as repairs, maintenance, electrical safety checks, inventory checks, etc, without obtaining the fully informed consent of landlords.

[mike740] 10/8/2015 16:35

Taken a hiding today. MMs own a few so are trying to keep it above water, soon they will capitulate. Bumboy6 and Tulip in deep -hit.

[mike740] 10/8/2015 14:55

Top bombing post NY Boy.

cheers

[ny boy] 10/8/2015 14:35

Sellers of some of London’s top luxury properties are suddenly doing the unthinkable: They’re cutting their prices.

A six-bedroom Georgian townhouse on coveted Kensington Square? Recently reduced to £7 million—about $10.9 million—from an original asking price of £8.5 million. A historic townhouse in the heart of Mayfair? Listed for £16.5 million in February, it can now be had for £14.95 million.

Not so long ago, central London’s property market was the envy of the world, with prices in golden neighborhoods like Kensington and Belgravia reaching new heights every year. Now, this highflying market is coming down to earth.

In the year ending in June 2015, prices in “prime central London” or “PCL”212;the upper end of the market in coveted neighborhoods such as Chelsea, Knightbridge and Mayfair—fell 4.3%, according to real-estate firm Savills.

That slide followed years of precipitous growth. Prime central London prices climbed 25% in the year ending June 2010 alone, according to Savills, as the market rebounded from the global housing slump. By June 2014, the median price for prime central London was £3.657 million, according to Savills. Then, for the first time in years, the numbers started slipping. Today, the median price for the prime central market is £3.5 million.

According to William Hughes-Ward, a director at central London real-estate firm Marsh & Parsons, the trouble set in last year, when a shortage of stock on the market pushed prices up too quickly.

As the market continued to stall this year—at the same time that the May national election was approaching—real-estate agents widely said that buyers were spooked by the prospect of a Mansion Tax on homes valued at £2 million or more, proposed by the Labour Party. But even though David Cameron’s Conservative Party won a convincing majority, prices have failed to rebound as many agents predicted.

Buyers do have to contend with a new stamp-duty system, a government tax levied on house sales. Until December of last year, the top tax rate was a flat 7%, levied on all homes worth £2 million or more. The new, incremental system means buyers must pay 12% on the portion of a property’s price above £1.5 million (with a sliding scale of fees levied on the first £1.5 million). It is calculated that the change has raised the tax bill on all homes worth £937,000 or more.

Meanwhile the Bank of England has been threatening interest rate rises for the last two years.
Fact - Prime Central London is simply too expensive
Fact - Foxtons will receive less commission

International currency fluctuations have also played a part. The strength of the British pound against the euro has made London purchases more expensive for European buyers, while the devaluing of the ruble has deterred buyers from Eastern Europe.

“We have seen some of the big players such as Russians fall out of the market, mainly due to political sanctions in Russia and difficulty in getting their money out,” said Camilla Dell, managing partner at Black Brick buying agency.

The biggest problem, according to many analysts, is that prices have simply climbed too high.

“The affordability of London property, even for wealthy foreigners is now too compromised,” said buying agent Alex Newall, managing director of Hanover Private Office, a prime real-estate firm. “Some properties are 20% to 30% overpriced. Sellers need to get realistic if they want to transact in 2015.”

[doodlebug4] 08/8/2015 18:36

Cawky getting desperate for attention and paying a muppet to promote his opinions on ADVFN ! Sad.

[doodlebug4] 08/8/2015 17:48

Cawky must be struggling when he has to pay someone to promote him on ADVFN!

Mikey will no doubt hang on his every word, but I don't think many people pay much attention to his opinions any more. A bit like the Aussie cricket team, he's past his best. :-)

[jeremyjezza] 08/8/2015 09:09

mikey740,did you get a ticket for the Oval?.
In 2 posts you said you made 78 and 40 grand.Love to know how you trade.You must have lost a lot on GRG.You seemed to keep chasing it up.

Lets meet up at the cricket and you can explain away my doubts.

[blueboy6] 07/8/2015 16:17

LOL!!! Yeah right Pikey! Enjoy the day with your mates, hope you haven't left the sheep in the car in this heat. xx

[doodlebug4] 07/8/2015 16:09

Just for you Mikey;

Pathological Liar Treatment Options
When it comes to pathological liar treatment, psychotherapy can help. The problem with trying to treat people with this problem is that they often won't or can't admit that they have issues around telling the truth. A "normal" person knows when he or she has lied, but the pathological liar may not be able to differentiate between the truth and a lie.

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[doodlebug4] 07/8/2015 14:25

Fruit cake more likely, not cream cake.

[mike740] 07/8/2015 14:21

See what I mean Marty and Carson is just behind the TOP DOG Aldwick on MAM.

Since I left you just cant get the stars on MAM, can see it going bust in a bear market.

[mike740] 07/8/2015 14:18

He he he he he he Axil Foley type laugh, Carsons comment this morning when he saw his profit warning, and it SHOT THROUGH HIS STOP LOSS on market opening.....

Chris Carson - 07 Aug 2015 07:08 - 415 of 416

William Hill's H1 pretax profit falls 35%

StockMarketWire.com

Looking like Tin Hat.