G20 Summit and Michael Jackson prove popular for short lets

With the impending arrival of 37 world leaders and their entourages to the Excel, Dockland's Award winning Estate Agency, Movello has been busy helping TV companies including the BBC secure apartments to film the events taking place for the G20 Summit. Movello Managing Director, Angus Edy commented "The TV companies had specific requirements such as elevated views of the Excel Centre as well as line of site to the O2 where most of the outside broadcast facilities will be based. There was only a couple of developments that met the criteria and we have been working hard to secure the right apartments. Another interesting enquiry we had this week was from the sound engineers who will be working on the record breaking run of Michael Jackson shows at the O2. They are looking for an apartment for the full six months of the shows and may be able to get hold of some free tickets to the shows as part of the deal! We have a number of corporate clients with requirements in Canary Wharf at the moment. Interested landlords should contact Movello. " Short lets work well for both landlords and corporate or professional tenants. For landlords the rent received is significantly higher than for a long let and for tenants the cost can be significantly less than an extended hotel stay and offers more spacious accommodation. Contact Movello for more information - 020 7473 9530 www.movello.com

New Year Shows Signs of Green Shoots

Despite endless bad news stories about the economy and the property market in general, Movello Managing Director, Angus Edy, reports a strong start to the year both in terms of property sales and rentals.

“Despite a very different market to this time last year, there are an increasing number of buyers coming into the market and a high number of rental applicants looking to move. Prices have dropped dramatically during 2008. Unusually this has affected both sales prices and rental prices. The general consensus among investors is that sales and rental prices will continue to drop for another 6 months and will then start to rise. It is notoriously difficult to judge the bottom of the market so buyers are advised to look now while finance costs are so low. Many of our applicants are coming from West London and are looking to save money at the same time as improving the size and quality of their accommodation. We are also seeing a high number of existing Docklands tenants looking to renegotiate the rent on their current property or move within the area. Most landlords are able to negotiate on the rent due to the massive reductions in the base rate. Tenants still need to be realistic about the level of discount they can expect because many landlords are still on fixed rates and don’t have the flexibility to negotiate as much as others. Sales applicants are coming into the market but are looking for bargains. Only the most realistically priced properties are selling. We have a lot of investors who have bought off plan in the soon to complete developments of Pan Peninsula and The Icon. We have pent up demand to buy and rent these apartments when they complete, but applicants will be negotiating hard for the best deals. These developments are setting new standards for luxury living in Canary Wharf and existing tenants in nearby developments will no doubt be looking at these developments for their next move".

If you are looking to move or have a property available please contact the Movello team on 020 7473 9530 or visit www.movello.com

Editorial published in The Wharf Newspaper 12/02/09

JP Morgan deal shines light on Canary Wharf property

With the anouncement that JP Morgan have signed the biggest office deal in the history of Canary Wharf to take 1.9 million sqft at Riverside South, the prospects for the Canary Wharf property market looks rosy. The sales market is currently subdued and prices have fallen dramatically during 2008. However, signs that the mortgage market will start to pick up in 2009 should signal the bottom of the market. Savy investors with cash will start looking to buy during 2009, therefore sellers should be looking to market their property from early 2009.

Will house prices rise or fall?

The reality is that the market is driven by demand and supply. Only 6 months ago the government were telling us there was a shortage of housing in the South East and we needed to build more. This demand has not gone away. There is still a massive shortage of housing in the south east. No doubt demand has waned but everyone still needs somewhere to live. My prediction is that the house price crash will be short and sharp. We will see 20-30% falls from the peak in 2007. We have already seen 20% falls in most areas and up to 50% in some northern city centres. Therefore we only have about 10% further to go. The recovery will be led by London from the middle of next year when the mortgage market eases up. There will still be a dearth of first time buyers but they will be replaced by cash rich investors picking up properties at the bottom of the cycle.