London house prices 'dependent on international market'
26th Jul 2011
The cost of buying London property is dependent on the prices in the international market, and thus will determine activity in the English capital for the foreseeable future, one specialist has asserted.
According to Hugh Best, head of investment management at London Central Portfolio, there is unlikely to be a major increase in the level of supply coming to the prime London property market in the coming months.
He noted that stock is still very tight and many people are as such "sitting on their hands", while those with a prime asset are using it as an investment.
This is likely to produce a good yield, as rents have been hardening for at least 15 months now, he said, though there are not many prime performing assets that people can "bet your house on".
"Vendors are reluctant to sell because their assets are performing well - they are seeing good capital growth and consistent rental income in a good rental market and they don't know where to park their cash," Mr Best noted.
His comments follow the publication of a report by Hometrack which showed that property asking prices in England and Wales fell by 0.1 per cent in July.
The data showed that average prices were up by 0.3 per cent in London and East Anglia in July but fell across all other regions. 
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