Luxury property market faces challenges
In the UK 1.5?million homeowners could have a mortgage greater than the value of their home, as property prices plunge.Negative equity is hanging over the heads of hundreds of thousands of homeowners who put down deposits of less than 20?pc during the boom years.
It is difficult to make exact estimates, but many agree a matching fall in house prices could leave between 1.02?million and 1.1?million homeowners in negative equity. The South West of England is getting richer according to property figures released by Barclays Wealth. The report found the South West had the highest number of property sales worth more than £1m after London and the South East in 2010.
Last year there were 291 luxury property sales in the South West, which was more than double the number completed in the Midlands and North West.
Barclays Wealth said the luxury property market in the South West has fared well despite the downturn. In 2008, there were 269 property sales worth more than £1m in the region; however sales dipped in 2009 to 225 properties.
Improvements in the regional and national economy meant sales return in 2010, increasing to a three-year high of 291 properties. In addition, 35 properties worth more than £2m were sold in the region in the last year.