Mayfair property remains the most expensive in prime central London and could soon set new residential records, a new report claims.
The Mayfair 2024 Residential Market Report, published by Wetherell, analysed sales and lettings data sourced from LonRes, the Land Registry and local market intelligence.
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It found almost 70 per cent of properties sold in Mayfair in 2023 were valued at between £2,000 per sq ft and £10,000 per sq ft. This far exceeds the average of 24 per cent for the same price bracket in prime central London overall.
The six-year average sales price for Mayfair property stands at £20.35 million, beating Knightsbridge (£19.95 m), Kensington (£19.11 m), Belgravia (£16.4 m) and Chelsea (£14.6million).
The most expensive Mayfair transaction in 2023 was a reported £138 million sale.
Peter Wetherell, a Spear’s Top Flight property agent and founder and executive chairman of Wetherell, explains ‘stock availability, vendor sentiment and pricing’ are the three key factors behind the sales and values witnessed in the Mayfair marketplace.
‘Mayfair is a very unique micro-market where both vendors and purchasers are wealthy, powerful and know what price they want to achieve from a property transaction,’ he explains.
This lack of urgency or necessity means that both buyers and sellers can afford to wait for just the right price and property.
The neighbourhood is set to become even more competitive over the next two years due to the lack of available stock. Wetherell notes that there are currently only three new luxury residential developments in the pipeline in Mayfair: 1 Mayfair, One Carrington and Three Kings Yard, which will provide just 65 residences in total.
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This is further compounded by planning restrictions unveiled as part of Westminster council’s ‘City Plan’, which limits the size of new-builds to 2,150 sq ft. There are also restrictions on the amalgamation of units – meaning buyers cannot simply buy more and merge them together.
‘For the last seven years there has been a plentiful supply of ultra-prime new homes stock in Mayfair which has been snapped up by multi-millionaires and billionaires from around the world, especially wealthy purchasers from India, the Middle East and America,’ Wetherell continues.
‘Suddenly this stock has all sold out and new homes supply has become extremely constrained yet the appetite for super luxury homes remains. The highly anticipated Caudwell luxury development known as 1 Mayfair on South Audley Street has now become “the only new homes game in Mayfair” and it will be interesting to see the impact this limited supply has on new homes pricing in Mayfair.
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‘I forecast that the pricing for ultra-prime new trophy homes in Mayfair has the potential to achieve over £12,000 psf over the next few years, exceeding the record £10,000 psf prices already achieved at No.1 Grosvenor Square. This new level of pricing will make Mayfair the most valuable real estate address in the world by far.’
He adds: ‘It is very much a market of “buy now whilst stocks last”. My advice to buyers wanting large luxury new homes is that you had better hail this taxi because there isn’t another one coming around the corner.’