Foxtons profits fall amid London housing slowdown

Estate agents Foxtons (LON:FOXT) has been hit by the slowdown in the London housing market, reporting a fall in profits for the year.

Overall, Foxtons saw profits drop 65 per cent for the year to December-end, marking a particularly disappointing annual performance.

The slowdown across the capital “had a significant impact on our overall performance in 2017”, said Foxtons.

Foxtons’ letting business performed better than sales across the period.

Letting revenue fell by just 3 per cent to £66.3 million, however sales revenue dropped by a considerable 23 per cent to £42.6 million.

Chief executive Nic Budden said: “We are pleased to have delivered a performance in line with market expectations. However, sales activity in the London property market is near historic lows and this had a significant impact on our overall performance in 2017,” said chief executive Nic Budden.

“Looking ahead, we expect trading conditions to remain challenging during 2018, and our current sales pipeline is below where it was this time last year,” he continued.

This follows a Nationwide report back in September, London house prices have fallen for the first time in eight years.

Average London house prices dipped 0.6 percent between July and September, compared to the same period last year.

The capital proved the weakest performing region in the UK for the first time since 2009, at the height of the financial crisis.

The housing market has been hit by continued economic uncertainty following the Brexit referendum back in 2016.

Nevertheless, house prices in London continue to be way above the national average, with many Londoners being increasingly priced out. 

This comes amid calls from The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, for greater affordable housing across the capital.

Back in October last year, Khan said:

“The housing crisis is a major factor in the high cost of living in the capital, as well as putting home ownership out of the reach of many young Londoners who fear they will never get a foot on the property ladder,” said Khan to The Guardian.

Shares in Foxtons are down currently down by 4.56 percent as of 13.48PM (GMT).

 

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