_Prime Central London Sales Index: February 2017

• Price falls showed tentative signs of bottoming out in February, with annual price growth easing to -6.6% from -6.7% in January
• Monthly growth of 0.1% in February was the first positive figure since January 2016
• Knight Frank undertook more transactions in the six months to February 2017 than the equivalent period in each of the previous two years
• Prime central London Index, February 2017: 5,971.6

Tom Bill, Head of London Residential Research:

"Higher stamp duty rates prompted a downward revision of asking prices across prime central London over the past 12 months. This process appears to have led to a rise in transaction levels, which since October 2016 have been recovering slowly from the level they hit last summer.

"A marginal price rise in February of 0.1%, means that the rate of annual price growth has at last begun to slow. This process reinforces our expectation that growth will be flat in 2017.

"While demand has improved, pricing needs to remain competitive to ensure sales are achieved.

"The wider political backdrop remains uncertain in 2017, however two points are worth bearing in mind.

"First, Brexit has had a marginal impact on the prime London property market to date. Indeed, demand has been bolstered by a weaker Sterling and, as the Knight Frank 2017 Wealth Report shows, London remains the top destination for globally wealthy individuals.

"Second, geopolitical uncertainty surrounding events like the French election and the new US President’s lack of conventionality means traditional safe haven assets like gold and the most secure government bonds are seeing fresh inflows. It is a trend that has traditionally also benefitted the prime central London property market."