Sale of properties is taking more than 3 months time in London

Posted under General by Alan

Property website, Globrix, has revealed that half the properties in London have been waiting for sale for more than 3 months. While the buyers are unable to get quick mortgages and waiting further fall in prices, the landlords are holding out for higher prices, leading to a delay in sales.

Globrix established that around 60% of homes in Tower Hamlets and Kingston were unsold for more than 3 months. The proportion in Kingston went up to 62% from 31% since the beginning of 2008. It rose to 43% from 18% in Croydon and to 56% from 20% in Harrow.

The only exception to this scenario was the Bexley Borough where the percentage of unsold properties for more than 90 days remained unchanged at 41%. According to Daniel Lee of Golbrix, the London market is almost at a standstill and a large number of properties are not finding buyers.

In order to revive the housing market, the Government announced a stamp duty threshold under which properties costing below £175,000 have been exempted from stamp duty for a year. However, according to Globrix data, only 5% of properties in London, currently up for sale, would qualify for exemption.

The prices of mews houses in London are still stable though they continued to fall throughout the UK including Central London. The reason being mews houses properties are freehold, boast garages and roof terrace and attract no service charges.

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