“The number of properties sold in prime central London in the first quarter of 2023 was 29% lower than the same period last year, according to LonRes, which tracks the city’s high-end market,” reported the FT. The party did slow in 2023, with inflation, persistent high interest rates and flat equity market performance all cited as causes (to say nothing of the potential of the Labour Party forming the next government). (London also topped Resonance Consultancy’s Europe’s Best Cities earlier this year.)Īccording to the Financial Times and estate agency Savills, 2022 sales of luxury homes in the city were torrid, with 605 properties selling for £5 million ($6.3 million) or more in 2022, the most since at least 2006. New wealthy residents who can now afford to check off a big item on the multi-millionaire bucket list: property in the planet’s most coveted city. London’s resilience has been buoyed by a sinking currency that has attracted investment and, of course, previously priced-out tourists. (Dubai was the runaway winner.) Pedestrians are also excited by the 2025 opening of the Camden Highline, the nearly mile-long greenway just north of Central London that will transform an unused train track into an elevated path similar to the famous urban landmark in New York.Īnd speaking of attracting people, the hand-wringing about the flight of talent and capital due to the pall of Brexit (and the follow-up specter of an airborne pandemic), while warranted, now seems excessive. Just as well, given the need to accommodate all the tourists: London ranked third on the planet (and first in Europe) for cities with the biggest international traveler spend in 2022, with $16.07 billion, almost tied for second with Doha. Returning transit aficionados won’t believe the direct journeys now possible across the city.
The brand-new Bond Street Elizabeth line station, at the heart of London’s West End, also opened late last year.
There are even new metro stops as part of the transformational Elizabeth line buildout, with trains now running directly from Reading and Heathrow to Abbey Wood and from Shenfield to Paddington. The London Underground Night Tube reopened more than a year ago, with the city’s other lines mostly up and running as they were before COVID. Indeed the city is almost back to pre-pandemic capacity, if the Tube is any indication. London tops both our overall Livability and Lovability indices, leading all global cities in the Instagram Hashtags, Facebook Check-ins and Tripadvisor Reviews subcategories that in part comprise the latter. Not that the city’s promotion engine was waning. No wonder that, through all this tumult, the eyes of the world were fixed here more than on any other city-save for maybe Kyiv-reminding everyone that London is spectacular and it’s been a really long while since they visited. From the Queen’s death, to last autumn’s chaotic drama at 10 Downing Street that finally calmed down with Rishi Sunak becoming prime minister, only to take heavy local election losses this spring, London is rarely quiet these days. The city is more indomitable and part of the global discourse than ever. Despite crippling COVID lockdowns and economic devastation. London still reigns over all global cities.
0 kommentar(er)
