Homes One May newsletter: Sifting through the noise
Sifting through the noise
Seeing the real picture
We are exposed to so much information and data these days and it is becoming harder to figure out the truth from the noise. This does not only apply to geopolitics and finance, but also to the London property market.
How can so many different soundbites co-exist about the market? I read all the following headlines in the same period this year:
“Prime London’s top-end outperforms in ‘slow’ spring market”
Lonres
“Prime London Sales Market Makes Hesitant Start to 2024”
Knight Frank
“London’s prime homes suffer sharpest price drop in five years”
Bloomberg UK
“Confidence returns to prime London!”
Savills
From a bank's perspective this is quite an interesting article.
Market update and outlook
A few points for your attention
As someone who values truth and honesty, I like to try and get to the essence of what is happening to help my clients figure out the smartest moves. These are my conclusions from the first quarter of 2024 on the ground:
1. Deals are taking far longer to conclude than I have ever known; there is no urgency. Buyers appear to be happy to just ‘wait and see’, hoping for or expecting further price falls and lower interest rates. Vendors that don’t need to sell also seem to be content playing a similar waiting game, since it is unclear to them where to put their potential proceeds.
2. In this time of conflict property can feel like a safe haven. A sudden escalation geopolitically can lead to a huge drop in stock markets overnight; property is more robust.
3. Stock is increasing at all levels. This may also increase further as the effect of the non-dom rules start to materialise. The impending election is also a big factor.
4. Prices are relatively stable and there are very few discounts in the best-in-class category.
5. More and more properties are traded off market, so being in the know and using a buying agent is more important than ever.
Property search
Where are people searching these days with Homes One?
We are still finding Kensington and Marylebone the most asked after locations at the medium to high-end level. Mayfair is always popular and I think Kensington Olympia may present the value buy at this time. It is central, undergoing a massive regeneration and is 60-80% cheaper than neighbouring Kensington High Street.
Artificial Intelligence
It’s all in the prompts
I recently attended an AI workshop for beginners. While I first found the prospect of AI taking over lives incredibly depressing and scary; I actually started to see it more as a potential creativity tool for us and something could have positive impact. Of course we are human and history tells us the technology will be what we make of it.
These are the most interesting tools I discovered. The main learning I got from the training was that it's all in how detailed and specific you are in the prompts.
For graphics and pictures
Midjourney – midjourney.com
For sound and voice
Eleven labs – elevenlabs.io
For a search engine alternative - has replaced Google and Safari for me.
Perplexity – perplexity.ai
For general AI functions
Chat GPT – chat.openai.com
Concluding thoughts
As well as being primarily a buying agent, more and more clients are asking me to assist with managing their sales or lettings. The advantage of using me in this is that you will have advice you can trust and I can manage the sales process and help appointing agents with no cost to my clients. Please do get in touch.
My business is built on referrals so please do pass details onto friends and colleagues for a free consultation and I look forward to welcoming you to my offices at 96 Kensington High Street.
Enjoy the Spring!
Warmly,
Karim