Virtual House Sales

Virtual property viewings help keep London housing market afloat.

05:51 21 April 2020

Available online technology is now being used to sell London properties amid the coronavirus lockdown. Real estate agents in London are now taking advantage of 'virtual viewing' solutions in lieu of making physical visits as they adhere to strict social distancing protocols. They said that they are now seeing sales agreed in the "second hand" market on the same basis for the first time. 

 

Giles Milner, a real estate agent in London, said that his firm was able to close six blind sales since the pandemic. They have also received 250 new sales offers. 

 

He said: "We had a guy living in Chiswick who saw a property in Brentford. He knew the area and made an offer. He will probably get to the point of exchange then press on to completion quickly when the lockdown is over.

 

"People are taking the view that if they like the location and they know what the square footage is and how close to schools it is you can take care of the property itself later when you move in. "

 

Housebuilders have also noticed an increased interest in their services amid the coronavirus pandemic. David Galman, sales director of house builder Galliard, said: "May of our clients are either self-isolating or working from home and have more time to look for a property. As a result, we have had a 40per cent spike in website hits and sales enquiries." 

 

He added: "We've now had four deals as a result of the virtual tours and over time the viewings and deals will strengthen as there remains significant interests in London real estate from both domestic and overseas buyers." 

 

"As China is slowly coming out of lockdown, we have seen a noticeable upturn this week in interest from China and Hong Kong."

 

Jeremy Gee, managing director of central London agent Beauchamp Estates said: "Two weeks ago, we switched our portfolio of ultra-prime London properties to be available for virtual tours." 

 

"It's the first time at this price level of the market that remote viewings have played a central role in the deals.