London homebuyers back to bidding wars

Sealed bids have returned to the buoyant London property market, reports property consultants Cluttons, driven by fierce competition in the face of a severe shortage of homes for sale.

As buyers fight for limited stock across London, sealed bids are becoming the norm, especially for one bedroom apartments in zone one and family homes in the sought-after locations of Clapham and Islington.

Cluttons is seeing multiple offers being made, ending in sealed bids, with the vendor often achieving in excess of the full asking price. Generic one bedroom properties around the £550,000 price being bought as pieds-á-terre, first time buyer homes or as investments are seeing a flurry of buyers eager to secure a purchase. A family home close to a good school in Clapham, recently witnessed 68 viewings with a sealed bid date set at the onset of marketing, resulting in 20 bids being received.

James Hyman, Partner for Residential Sales at Cluttons, said:

“The sealed bids process is the fairest way letting buyers dictate what they are prepared to pay for a property, as low stock volumes and the recent rise in renovations and extensions means each home needs to be considered on its own merit.

“Domestic and foreign buyers in prime Central London are not being put off by high prices and have been encouraged by the performance of the market, which has suffered little impact from the wider economic slowdown.

“Buyers of properties under £2 million are no longer limiting their searches to one area of London. Instead, they are setting their sights more widely to meet their aspirations and tick more boxes by looking for value both north and south of the river, in secondary locations. Buyers traditionally focused on Islington in the north are looking to Stoke Newington and Hoxton, while in the south they are widening their search to Fulham to Clapham. Increasingly, buyers in SE1/Shad Thames are willing to migrate to Wapping, north of the river, where prices are on average 30% cheaper.”

Case Study – Honeywell Road, Clapham SW11

Cluttons recently marketed a three bedroom Victorian terraced house on sought after Honeywell Road in Clapham, within a stone’s throw of the popular Honeywell Junior School. The house offered the opportunity for a significant refurbishment project with the potential of adding value, including loft and side return extensions. Interest in the home, priced at offers in excess of £1,000,000, came from multiple parties seeking a family home in a ‘between the commons’ location, resulting in 68 viewings and 20 bids. The property sold for significantly over the asking price.