Foxtons piles more woe on stagnating central London sales market

Foxtons says affordability issues and increased stamp duty charges for some of the most expensive properties mean London’s sales market is now seeing transactions as "historically low levels" - and that it is the suburbs that are performing more strongly.

In a report to investors, Foxtons chief executive Nic Budden says that company is performing well thanks to the expansion of its network in primarily outer-London locations. 

"Although we expect any recovery of the property sales market to be slow due to low current levels of stock, we enter the fourth quarter with a £1 billion sales pipeline which is well above the same point last year and based on current market conditions, we remain broadly on track to meet full year expectations" says Budden. 

Revenue rose 8.8 per cent to £43.5m annually for the third quarter ended September 30. Sales commissions rose 12.8 per cent to £18.5m and residential lettings rose 3.3 per cent to £22.6m.

The firm has opened seven new branches in the last year, mostly beyond central London, and it says its plans to open between five and 10 branches continues, despite the capital’s poor sales performance. It has a pipeline of new sites secured for the next 18 months, it has told investors.

Estate Agent Today has recently reported downbeat forecasts for prime central London from both Savills and Knight Frank agencies.