The London property market
“At Dexters we are consistently arranging up to 45,000 viewing appointments a month across London,” says Andy Shepherd, Dexters Chief Executive. “We are London's leading independent Estate Agent, with over 70,000 registered buyers and tenants actively looking for property across the capital.”
Sales market update
“With over 70 offices across the capital and 35 in central London, our local experts are highly experienced in their markets and are able to provide people with the best advice on all aspects of buying and selling. Our local specialists live in the areas in which they work, so have a deep understanding of the qualities and nuances that make each London area so unique and desirable."
“Our Prime Central London team has never been busier. Despite recent press reports and published figures from listed agents suggesting the central London market is in dire straits, Dexters is bucking the trend. Over the summer we sold some terrific properties, including a magnificent Grade I Listed townhouse in Queen Anne’s Gate, Westminster, marketed at £17.95 million."
“You may have read in the press about the rise of the online-only agents, who some say will take over from Estate Agents. We know that we are the ultimate online Estate Agent in London,” says Andy. “Our website receives over 200,000 visits every month and we regularly have more London property on Rightmove than anyone other agent. We work hard for our clients, combining intimate local knowledge with unmatched marketing strength and a network of offices. Having an entire team dedicated to selling or letting your property from a local office is invaluable to our clients. We know that between 150 and 200 hours of work go into each successful transaction. We are 100% focused on finding the very best buyer or tenant for our clients and we never compromise on this.”
“We also know that just three out of every 20 viewings Dexters arranges come from advertisements in print or via online portals – we generate the remainder from our own database and getting on the telephone and talking to people. Very rarely do they buy or rent what they first enquire about. The internet has not replaced salesmanship or reduced the importance of human contact in property transactions,” explains Andy.
Dexters is now the fastest-growing Estate Agent in the most exciting city in the world. “Recent acquisitions across the capital, including Benham & Reeves Sales in Hampstead, Highgate, West Hampstead and Dartmouth Park, will be followed by further expansion into key areas of London in the coming months,” says Andy.
“We have also recently grown our New Homes department to include East London,” he continues. “We now work for developers all over London, with four New Homes centres of excellence in Mayfair, Twickenham, Wimbledon and Shoreditch covering all areas of the capital. New homes are a critical ingredient for London’s future success and are a vital part of our business. To match accelerating demand from both buyers and prospective tenants, supply of new properties entering the capital’s property market is fundamental.”
“Across London, our teams are very busy with high volumes of activity working closely with active buyers and tenants keen to find their new London home,” says Andy. “It’s not just private buyers who are busy - investors from across the globe are looking to increase their portfolios, whether through acquiring individual properties, entire blocks or build-to-rent schemes.”
“As a business, Dexters has no outside investors, having grown organically and through acquisitions over the years, and we are continuing to grow year by year. 2018 has been busy; we’re expanding every section of the business because we have every confidence in the future of the London property market.”
“This year we have received growing recognition for our hard work; we won the PROPS award for Residential Agent of the Year and we are nominated for Residential Adviser of the Year at the upcoming Estates Gazette Awards. Barclays analysts have also recently named us as number one in our sector.”
If you are considering selling your property or would like an update on your local market, we would be delighted to assist. Please click the link to make contact with your local Dexters office.
Lettings market update
“The lettings market has been incredibly busy this year and it didn’t slow down over the summer,” says Alex Harrington, Group Lettings Managing Director. “We have had record months for new business, with plenty of tenants looking for property across London.”
“Our Corporate Lettings and International Relocation team deals with 200 enquiries a week and any uncertainty regarding Brexit is not affecting demand,” explains Alex. The team, based in Mayfair, deals with enquiries from companies and individuals from around the world looking to relocate to London, making Dexters a market leader in high quality corporate lettings. This service has attracted companies who now deal with Dexters exclusively when relocating employees to London.
At Dexters our lettings transaction numbers have significantly increased year-on-year and we attribute this to working hard for over 25,000 Landlords who regularly recommend our services to others. "Our local lettings experts are highly experienced in their markets and are able to provide both Landlords and prospective tenants with the best advice on all aspects of renting and letting property.” says Alex. “We work tirelessly to find the very best tenants for our Landlords, keeping void periods and arrears to an absolute minimum – over the past five years our Landlords have experienced an average void period of just 0.7% pa and only 1% of Dexters Landlords experience rent arrears against a national average of 37% (National Landlords Association).”
“At Dexters, we also encourage longer tenancies and are seeing an increasing number of three-year rental agreements. Our average initial rental period is now just under two years,” says Alex.
Dexters also deals with shorter lets as well as large clients who have portfolios or build-to-rent properties. “We have a Premier Client Team coordinating all the work Dexters does for Landlords with property all over London,” concludes Alex.
If you are considering letting your property or would like an update on your local market, we would be delighted to assist. Please click the link to make contact with your local Dexters office.