Sales

Buying agency Black Brick has laid into the government's decision to up stamp duty rates for high-value homes, after observing a big knock-on effect in the lower price ranges.

Investment outfit Enstar Capital has just sold a consented 12-unit luxury scheme on the Strand for £12.25m, the firm's third play on the famous thoroughfare.

If the government were looking to boost Treasury coffers from the change to stamp duty, it looks as if they'll be sorely mistaken.

Developer Alchemi Group has just sold its giant resi scheme at 33 Horseferry Road (opposite the Home Office) in a deal worth £137m.

Without wanting to burden you with another buzzphrase, it seems the "anti-marketing" campaign is all the rage in prime central London at the moment.

39% of all buyers in prime central London during Q2 were originally from overseas, says Strutt & Parker, with a noticeable increase in buyers from Western and Eastern Europe, as well as from North America.

A ginormous house in a swanky suburb of Sydney has just sold for "between $60-$70m", making it the most expensive resi deal in Australian history.

Knight Frank's Guildford office has just tucked away a rather nice country house deal.

The resi sales market in the West End has "soared" since the election, reports CBRE, with enquiry levels and average values both up by nearly a third.

Prime London property prices ticked up by 0.8% in Q2 - the first rise since September 2014, and quite the change from Q1's -0.6% - as "investors strengthen their hold" on the PCL market.

How's this for a soft launch... Over 1,000 buyers have already enquired about apartments in the soon-to-be-transformed Shell Centre, less than a week after the registration process began.

December's Stamp Duty reform probably hasn't had that big an impact on the £2m+ property market, argues CBRE.