Unrelenting demand for multi-millionpound homes

Demand for multi-million-pound homes is still rocketing as wealthy buyers shake off surging mortgage rates, new research has shown.

Buyer registrations for £2m-plus homes in the last three weeks jumped by two thirds on the same period in 2021, said Hamptons estate agents.

This is in extreme contrast to the rest of the market where buyer registrations in every other price bracket plunged, as huge jumps in mortgage rates destroyed people’s hopes of moving.

On average across Britain, buyer demand fell by a fifth year-on-year and was down by 5pc compared with the same period in 2019, before the pandemic turbocharged the market.

In the £2m-plus price bracket, compared to the same period in 2019, demand was up by 375pc.

Hamptons analysed data from Countrywide, Britain’s largest property group. Buyers at the top end are relatively insulated from rate rises as they are less reliant on borrowing compared to those lower down the housing ladder.

Harry Gladwin, of The Buying Solution, a buying agent, said wealthy purchasers are simply foregoing the mortgage market. “I have three properties under offer between £3m and £4m, and none of those buyers is borrowing.”

That means they have an opportunity to negotiate better prices, he added.

Some have benefited from the recent economic volatility. Emma Fildes, an independent buying agent, said: “You have to remember that some people, working in the markets or gas and oil for example, are making crazy money and they want to park it somewhere. I have an equity fund manager who just closed a big deal which increased his cash budget by a million.”

A large chunk of Britain’s most expensive homes are in prime central London, which is also benefiting from a return of overseas buyers – who were largely absent during the pandemic – now that international travel has resumed. Many have been drawn in by the fall in the value of the pound against the dollar since the start of the year.

Mark Lawson, also of The Buying Solution, said high net worth buyers are purchasing in cash and then financing afterwards, borrowing against their new asset. Lindsay Cuthill, of Savills estate agents, said large numbers of buyers will not necessarily translate into higher transactions or prices, adding: “We have more buyers but they won’t be rushed. This will not result in the frothiness that we saw last year.”