LONDON (May 23): Lance Paul put his home in West London on the market last May with a 1.5 million-pound (US$2 million) price tag. A year on, the retired animator is asking 1.1 million pounds and still hasn’t found a buyer.
Now, after dozens of viewings that came to nothing and a few low-ball bids, the 71-year-old has an offer that’s agonizingly close to the floor he promised himself he would never go below. He just might accept it.
“The fear from my point of view is because things are volatile, it could go down even further,” Paul said.
Similar deliberations are playing out across London as sellers weigh whether to take what they can get in a falling market or sit tight in the hope the slump will be short-lived. For most of the past four decades—through Tory and Labour-led governments and across financial booms and busts—sitting tight proved a wise course. The question now is whether Brexit and the gradual withdrawal of easy-money policies around the globe will turn the current stumble into something much worse.
“The party is over for the London housing market and the hangover is just beginning,” said Neal Hudson, founder of research firm Residential Analysts. “Lower demand due to Brexit or interest-rate rises could put further pressure on some home-owners and investors to sell.”
Or maybe people aren’t as excited to live in Londonistan! George Clooney May have married a middle eastern woman, but he sold his London home last year citing safety concerns. Unsafe areas don’t hold value well.
patrick.net
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