Sales

As the return of a "normal" commuting life seems less and less likely, househunters are ripping up their previous geographical property requirements, writes buying agent Charlie Rearden...

There are six London boroughs where more than one in 25 homes are currently listed for sale.

Sellers are "reluctant" to list their homes for sale during this third national lockdown, reports Zoopla, but buyer demand continues to escalate.

Estate agency branches did an average of eight sales deals last month, according to Propertymark, down from 13 in November but still the highest December total since 2006.

The average price paid in Prime Central London has fallen by 10% since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic - but some enclaves have seen dramatic prices rise.

"The volume of households moving through the homemover funnel" has reached "unparalleled levels", says research firm Twenty Ci.

Surprisingly high prime sales volumes are "a clear demonstration of confidence in London as a leading world city," says Savills.

National buying agency Garrington has compiled a "definitive league table of post-Covid property hotspots", assessing the best places to live in the "new normal" of 2021 and beyond.

Comparison with 2008 'puts the impact of Covid-19 on the property market into context', says Knight Frank, suggesting that 2021 'may also surprise on the upside'

West London agent Paul Cosgrove looks back on an extraordinary period for the capital’s property market, and explains why recent demand shifts are much more than a passing trend...

'People want more from the places they live, both in the physical bricks and mortar as well as the immediate external surroundings', says Canary Wharf Group after surveying 2,000 buyers.

The pace of property price inflation picked up dramatically towards the end of last year, according to the latest official UK HPI.