Always look on the bright side of life

By Martin Skinner,

The last few weeks have been frantically busy and while lots of big deals are on the horizon, fundraising and transaction setbacks are still frequent and frustrating.

On the personal front I've just returned from a trip to New Zealand and best man duties at a close friend’s wedding.  In fact I wrote most of this on the long flight back, having written my speech at the last minute on the way over.  The big day was fabulous and was followed by a tour of the North Island together with Ben and Anna the newlyweds, their daughter Trilby (hats off to them for that name) and Ben’s family.  Some honeymoon! I was there when we heard the terrible news from the South Island and my heart goes out to everyone in Christchurch.

While I was out there corrupt leaders were falling like dominoes as people harnessed the power of everyday web tools like Google, Facebook and Twitter.  The debate rages as to whether the situation will deteriorate without the 'regional stability' these leaders used to provide.  Personally I believe increased transparency and accountability will lead to better government in the long run and that must be a good thing.  Short to medium term the instability will increase the flow of capital out of regions like the Middle East and into safer environments such as prime and fringe prime London property.

In terms of the UK economy, discussion is finally turning towards growth. While the downside surely has to include rising interest rates, there is also much to be positive about.  David Smith recently published another superb piece describing how the ‘feel good factor’ was lost when consumer price inflation overtook wage inflation, an event that paradoxically contributed to higher employment and lower interest rates.  He also highlighted a report forecasting a return of the feel good factor next year, when broad inflation is expected to fall back below wage inflation once more.  At the same time, development luminary Mike Slade listed many more reasons to look on the bright side of property life in his recent Property Week article.

I’m sometimes accused of being optimistic as if that's a bad thing.  Yes, I underestimated the credit crunch and agree it's important not to get too carried away with wishful thinking.  At the same time, it's also important to recognise the positive signs that are beginning to appear.  When I was playing a lot of tennis, we were always told to focus on where we wanted to hit the ball and it clearly improved results.  With timing and location critical to success in the property market too, I'm looking forward to some excellent years and returns ahead - particularly for investors in London residential.  As real estate emerges from the downturn, London's diverse, much vaunted and ultimately proven strengths will continue to draw both investment and human capital in ever greater numbers.

Having just gone through a recent batch of reports from the big UK residential agencies, I thought the following key points and charts on London residential property were worth sharing:

"...an astounding 70% [or £2.9 trillion of the £4.1 trillion total market value of UK residential property] is held as equity".

"...it is London's status as a world city that sets it apart in value terms from the rest of the country." Yolande Barnes, Savills, Residential Property Focus Q1 2011

Savills are now forecasting a rise of 33.4% in prime central London house prices over the next 5 years.  See the full report here.

"Outperforming their national markets, the cities of London, New York, Moscow and Hong Kong are sought after by the world's richest households and are at the forefront of a truly global market ~ the residential sectors of these global cities have more in common with each other than they do their domestic markets" Yolande Barnes, Savills, Spotlight on Four Global Cities, Feb 2011  Read the full report here.

"Global economic growth is now running at pre-recession levels contributing to wealth creation around the world which is pouring into London again. ~ London's reputation as a 'safe-haven' investment location, combined with geo-political concerns elsewhere around the world, most recently for example in Egypt and Tunisia [and now Libya], have helped draw buyers into the market"  Liam Bailey, Knight Frank, The world's most desirable residential market: The Super-Prime Lond....

P.S. Check out www.beek.co This is recently married Ben Knill's new and innovative technology venture and it's shaping up to be a huge success!  I'm proud to say that we incorporated early versions of his interactive 3D walkthroughs on our consumer website Nice Room as early as 2003.  Prospective tenants loved it and we got a lot of remote bookings as a result.  As consumers increasingly shop online and seek comfort in online research before buying or travelling, its potential is enormous.