Billionaires from around the world are snapping up bigger properties at the very top of London’s house market, as the total value of deals so far in 2023 has slipped.
According to Beauchamp Estates’ Billionaires Buying Index, super-prime property worth £340 million in total changed hands in the the capital between January and May, down from £404 million a year earlier.
The Mayfair-based firm says that there is stronger demand for significantly bigger properties, with the average size of homes sold almost doubling from 2022 to 11,200 square feet from 7,000 square feet.
There has also been a change in the most favoured neighbourhoods, which this year are Mayfair and Hyde Park rather than Belgravia and Knightsbridge. The average cost per square foot held steady at £3,100.
The survey also found that sales were being dominated by buyers from India, America, Malaysia and China alongside the UK.
A “gradual return” of buyers from Asia marks the start of what Beauchamp called “a return to normal international trading patterns” following Covid-19.
Highlights included the £17.5 million sale of a Primrose Hill mansion which was home to Hollywood director Tim Burton.
Gary Hersham, founding director of Beauchamp, said: “During the first five months of 2023 there has effectively been two billionaire buyer property deals per month in central London,” adding:
“There remains a sustained and healthy appetite amongst the world’s super rich for buying trophy homes in the UK capital.”
The Mayfair-based firm said it believed the size of homes changing hands was bigger because buyers planned to use them as their primary residence.
Properties up for sale at the moment include a 30,000 square foot mansion on Avenue Road, with a private art gallery and a spectacular swimming pool (pictured) featuring a 30ft high ceiling with a guide price of £110 million.
There is also the former HQ of Gucci on Grafton Street, listed at £55 million. (pictured)
Beauchamp’s index uses data from the wider estate agency industry’s Lonres system as well as its own in-house numbers as what it calls “local market intelligence”. It covers properties worth £15 million and above.
