Property market out of flavour...but 4.25 to 1.25 that is an over reaction surely!

Lancaster Gate - dubbed the Lancasters is one of their projects in London. Are property prices falling in London...

From The Sunday Times
February 17, 2008
Super-rich snap up apartments in world's most expensive residential scheme

RECESSION, what recession? The super-rich are snapping up apartments at the world's most expensive residential scheme at Londons One Hyde Park as if they were going out of fashion.

According to data released exclusively to The Sunday Times, half of the 80 apartments at the luxury scheme designed by Richard Rogers have already been contracted to be sold even though the project will not be completed until 2010. Knight Frank, one of the estate agents handling the Knightsbridge development, said sales already totalled more than 500m and the average apartment price had reached 20m.

Wealthy oil barons, Russian oligarchs and hedge-fund managers are shelling out at prices that break down to almost 6,000 per square foot for the chance to own one of the apartments. That figure is up from 4,000 per square foot in late 2006.

The sales reflect Londons status as a global city, with 39% of the buyers hailing from Russia, 25% from the Middle East, 14% from Britain and 11% from continental Europe. The highest price paid for an apartment at the scheme is rumoured to be more than 100m. The interiors are the work of Candy & Candy, the interior design company run by Nick and Christian Candy, two brothers in their early thirties who have become multi-millionaires by creating fantasy homes for people with limitless budgets.

The site will have an underground passage to the nearby Mandarin Oriental hotel, where staff will be on hand to cater to residents needs.

CPC, the Guernsey-based investment company owned by Christian Candy, has an equity stake of more than a third in One Hyde Park. The scheme is also backed by Sheikh Hamad bin Jasim Jaber al-Thani, foreign minister of the Gulf state of Qatar.

Liam Bailey, head of residential research at Knight Frank, said sales of so-called super-prime homes in London worth 10m or above had more than doubled in the three months to the end of January compared with the same period last year.

He said: It is quite extraordinary the way the super-prime market has continued to surge ahead. Sales of homes worth 1m-5m have slowed, but once you get above 5m, and certainly above 10m, they are still powering ahead.

trickling along ignored, it's time will surely come, will get noticed when it doubles/triples as bid speculation returns, all the best to holders

Kifin now 27%

Kifin and Christmas is coming,topped up another 50k,they have bought and raised there stake very quickly.
I believe Kifin Ltd has a South African owner, as does the New Atlantis Hotel in Dubai,could it be The Arabs coming in the back door ?

nice rise on christmas eve, may get some more media attention along with the close above the 15p resistance, which should interest the technical buyers too

Expecting more of the same this coming week

Billionaire tycoon Caudwell scents property opportunity
Billionaire tycoon John Caudwell, who founded the Phones4u retail chain, is piling into Britain's beleaguered commercial property market in a sign that some investors believe that prices may be bottoming out.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/constructionandproperty/3982618/Billionaire-tycoon-Caudwell-scents-property-opportunity.html

this is classical taking a small step back before the clean breakthrough

not expecting many more buy opps below 15p, waiting for this to rocket northwards in 2009

bottomed out, only a matter of time IMHO

Large trades/volume

Kifin now crossed above 29% holding, this should really hot up now

having already bottomed out, these are building momentum and look prime to attack and breakthrough 15p this time, come on let's see if there will be a bid now...

any other views

Looks good, but I have bad gut feeling so will give it a miss

waking up, getting excited

looks like this about to explode northwards

still great opp to get in before it really rockets north

still alot more to come

keep this high on your watchlist

Scarr are you on the board ? if not you should be for your efforts.