£500m home-buying frenzy after Tory win

Prices could surge by 10%, estate agent predicts

CENTRAL London estate agents were being swamped with calls from buyers today following an estimated £500 million bonanza of offers and “quickie“sales on Friday unleashed by David Cameron’s unexpected victory.

One agent estimated that prices could rise by as much as 10 per cent with the lifting of the shadow of the mansion tax and Labour’s pledge to abolish “nondom” tax status and introduce a new 50 per cent tax rate.

Becky Fatemi, managing director of agents Rokstone, said: “We will see a return of gazumping and sealed bids, and buyers will feel under pressure not just to offer a good price but also to compete with other people now flooding into the London market.”

She said several of her clients had been “packed up and ready to go” if Ed Miliband had been installed in No 10.

Other agents predicted weeks of pentup demand flooding the market before it starts to settle down, after a six-month hiatus in the run-up to polling day.

Gary Hersham, managing director of Mayfair-based Beauchamp Estates, said he had received 20 calls this morning before reaching his office, following on from a day of “bedlam” on Friday.

Agents across London reported tens of millions of pounds worth of deals in a dawn-to-dusk frenzy. Jake Russell, director at Chelsea agents Russell Simpson, said his firm rushed through four sales worth a combined £50 million after the election results came in.

C e n t r a l L o n d o n a ge n t s S t r u t t & Parker said it had received offers on £30 million worth of properties on Friday, while Peter Wetherell of Mayfair agents Wetherell said his firm “is currently processing some £29 million worth of offers that were made on Mayfair proper t y to us on Friday straight after the election”.

Stephanie McMahon, head of research at Strutt & Parker, said: “The prime central London markets displayed a marked reduction in volumes over the past nine months and this result will likely put an end to that.

“In addition, the more property taxfavourable approach of the Conservatives will serve to immediately increase confidence for those buying and selling homes over £1.5 million across the UK and we would not be surprised to see a surge in pent-up activity.”