Demand falls in central London as Telegraph warns on Foxtons shares

Demand is falling in central London, while supply is increasing.

Central London agent Douglas & Gordon said that the number of valuations is consistent with last March, but many home owners are waiting for the results of the General Election before deciding whether or not to market their home.

Meanwhile, the firm said that its portfolio of let properties is at an all-time high. New application registrations in February were up by almost 5% but the number of available properties was down by 10% compared with a year ago.

Separately, the Telegraph has warned investors to steer clear of shares in Foxtons, saying that the company is “so exposed to what is quite clearly a property bubble”.

Foxtons reported its results on Wednesday, and yesterday the paper’s Questor column said: “The rapid slowdown in the London property market means estate agents’ profits have fallen well short of initial expectations.”

Foxtons reported adjusted earnings of £46.2m, but the paper says analysts had been hoping for £57.2m.

It goes on: “Foxtons is a classic example of a company that came to the market at a well-timed peak. The shares were priced at 230p in September 2013, the top of the range of expected prices and trading on about 19 times earnings.

“The shares jumped more than 14% on the first day’s trading and peaked at 398.8p in February last year, leaving them trading at about 27 times forecast earnings.

“We recommended investors avoid this overpriced float at 230p on September 21 and the shares have subsequently fallen to 196.25p.”

The paper says that the market consensus is for Foxtons to make pre-tax profits of £45.6m this year on revenue of £152m.

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