Finance

Knight Frank LLP, the self-proclaimed "world’s leading independent property advisor", has had a rather good year.

The UK's biggest residential property group, Countrywide plc - which owns a swathe of high street resi brands including Hamptons, John D Wood and Faron Sutaria - is making a major move into the commercial…

The UK's rural estates continue to perform from an investment point of view, according to Savills' latest data, thanks mainly to strong showings from the resi and agricultural sectors.

What's the future for England's past? With a funding revolution and a sea-change in how the nation's heritage assets are valued, there's a reformation taking place at English Heritage.

Hugely sought-after throughout prime central London, mews properties make both extremely individual homes and solid bets.

Foreign dosh - around £3bn of it in 2011 according to Jones Lang LaSalle - "underpins" the entire London property market, argues London First, which lobbies on behalf of businesses in London.

Foxtons will start life on the London Stock Exchange with a value of £649m (a cool $1bn), right at the top-end of the expected £550-650m range. Shares in the estate agency were valued at £2.

It's been a rollercoaster of a first day on the stock market for Foxtons (FOXT) shares, as the company offered 60% of its equity to the world. The estate agency's share price rocketed by 19% to 274.

Northacre is putting £10m into a special purpose vehicle to develop 1 Palace Street, next-door to Buckingham Palace, and expects to complete on the former DFID offices in January 2014.

George Osborne has told the Institute of Directors that the property market is not overheating.

"High street challenger bank" Shawbrook has launched a dedicated short-term lending team to take on urgent deals.