After a string of interest rate hikes and with the cost-of-living-crisis still biting, homeowners across the capital have had to reduce their price expectations.
But the impact this has had at the top end of the market is well illustrated by the whopping £4 million that has been lopped off the cost of a Georgian mansion in Hampstead Village this summer.
Listed in June at £22 million, the Grade II-listed nine-bedroom home was reduced to £18 million at the start of September.
That represents an 18 per cent cut in three months, well beyond the four per cent drop recently reported in house prices across the capital in the year to August.
Indeed with that kind of saving you could buy an entire large family house in a desirable part of London with the money left.
Nibs Lakhani, director at agents Goldschmidt & Howland, said rampant inflation and mortgage rates had pushed up the cost of both buying and renovating the property.
“We have seen a new wave of interest since we reduced the asking price,” he added. “New people as well as those coming back.”
Nonetheless, a buyer was likely to come from the local area, he said.
“We have someone looking this week from about 10 roads away. It is mainly people from NW3, with kids in the schools.”
Goldschmidt & Howland previously sold the mansion in 1931, which was the last time it was on the open market.
Spanning a total of 7,896 sq ft, the estate is 15 times the size of the average property in the borough, according to recent statistics. And it features 0.6 acres of landscaped gardens.
In fact, it is made up of three properties: two Grade II-listed Georgian houses sitting side by side, plus a two-bedroom coach house.
The two primary residences were at one stage combined to form a grand period house known as Frognal Lodge. In the 1970s, however, the property was again divided into two.
As well as its nine bedrooms, the home contains five reception rooms, seven bathrooms, three kitchens and two utility rooms.
The two principal bedrooms are each equipped with an ensuite and walk-in wardrobe, while, at 614 sq ft, the primary reception room alone is larger than the average property in the borough (538 sq ft).
The property is so vast that the coach house can be accessed from a different street — Coach Row — and comes with its own cooking, dining and living areas as well as a garage and off-street parking. Surrounded by a high wall, the estate offers privacy and seclusion.
Hampstead and neighbouring Belsize Park are hotspots for celebrity buyers, with Ricky Gervais, Helena Bonham Carter, Sam Smith and Harry Styles all calling the area home.
Earlier this year, Taylor Swift was also rumoured to be house hunting nearby.
