Over half London property sales from £500,000 to £2M to City workers

An analysis of Chard sales' buyers from January 2007-present shows that over half of the properties we sold were to city based workers. London's pre-eminence as a world financial centre is what's keeping London estate agents and the central London property market busy.

This is a double edged sword. Whilst the international banking industry insulates the capital from the vagaries of the market elsewhere in the UK, it also makes the London property market vulnerable to any downturn in the square mile.

Recent signs are encouraging. Although there has been a cull among many city banks and financial institutions, our lettings teams are reporting an influx of "new blood" looking to rent flats and houses in London. The lettings market's gain is also a positive sign for London property sales prices; buy to let takes up some of the slack in sales and with finite supply, tenants will gravitate towards buying rather than accept higher rents and limited choice of property for rent in prime areas like Kensington, Chelsea, Westminster, Hammersmith and Fulham.