The outlook is still sunny for Property owners in Sandbanks, Dorset

April 14, 2009 - PRLog -- Between 2001 and 2006 mansions in Sandbanks, pictured right, were selling at the £3 million mark, and often more, and developers such as Seven and Britannia were bulldozing family-sized houses to replace them with über-mansions.

Post-downturn, a number of the large houses have been hit by the global financial crisis, as The Times reported in November, when two homes worth more than £1 million were repossessed. One of these homes, on Grasmere Road, bought for £1.6 million less than two years ago before being repossessed by the lender, failed to sell at auction last week with a valuation of £1.5 million. The viewing agent, Tailor Made, now says it would accept an offer of £800,000 — the highest bid currently on the table is £790,000.

The struggle to sell this home is just one example of the flatter market. The annual number of local property transactions fell by 41 per cent in 2008, according to the Land Registry. Prices, however, held up relatively well, particularly for detached homes. The front row of mega-homes, called Panorama Road, is thought to be safe from repossession because almost all of the residents own their homes outright.

The peninsula on which Sandbanks is located is right at the entrance to Poole Harbour, and is linked to the mainland by a road that runs behind the beach. The leafy outpost of land at the end is ringed with large — often white — houses with neat lawns. The beach has Blue Flag status, making it ideal for swimming and sunbathing. Poole Bay has views across the Channel and looks south to Studland.

The manager of Tottenham Hotspur, Harry Redknapp, lives here, as do the footballer Darren Anderton, the motor-racing tycoon Eddie Jordan, and Ali Campbell, formerly of UB40. Last July the first beach polo championships to be held on British sand took place at Sandbanks, but the enclave has not escaped the recent reality check. One local developer, Ravine Lifestyle, went into administration last July. A local private school, Wentworth College, also went into administration last year after a £400,0000 bank loan was withdrawn. But after a campaign by parents, reported in The Times, it was saved and is to merge with Uplands School in September.

One leading agent notes that coastal Dorset differs from the inland parts of the county because so many properties are holiday homes. The market has taken a hit because a second home is a discretionary buy, whereas a primary home — often closer to London and to schools and motorways as well — is an essential purchase.

Shaun Ascough, Group Managing Director of Sandbanks Property Search & Acquisition specialists, Sands Home Search International, comments: “the Sandbanks property market is quite unique and not necessarily linked to the adjoining property markets of Dorset and Hampshire. It is true to say that during its peak the properties in Sandbanks increased in value far more than other others culminating just a few years ago in its claim to have the 4th highest value per square metre of real estate throughout the world."

Tom Doyle is the chairman and managing director of Lloyds Property Group, in Canford Cliffs, the most prestigious address in Poole after Sandbanks. He was largely responsible for putting Sandbanks on the property map by getting it into the smart New York estate agent Corcoran’s “world’s most expensive places to live” report, which was followed up in the international press. Doyle sold a home for £5 million in November, two for more than £1 million in December and two for more than £1 million this year. “We are still talking beachfront sale prices as high as £1,300 per sq ft for prime and £1,000 per sq ft for less prime houses. Homes in secondary positions away from the sea are not selling well.”

Doyle sells the homes built by Seven Developments. Seven’s director, Eddie Mitchell, thinks that Sandbanks is resistant to the wider downturn: “We have sold an £8 million house to a Russian and last week we exchanged contracts on two beachhouses off-plan and sold another £2.5 million house overlooking the harbour.”

Michael Howard, a director of Britannia Property Group, isn’t too worried either: “We have just completed one bespoke project and are about to start another in Shore Road, Poole.” Britannia’s buyers still include Londoners wanting second or third homes but are increasingly locals who want to downsize, and overseas buyers. Ex-pats are realising that now is a good time to return home. “With the fall in house prices and the decreased value of sterling, it means large discounts for overseas buyers,” he says.

Shaun Ascough, Group Managing Director of Sandbanks Property Search & Acquisition specialists, Sands Home Search International, comments; "we have acquired two £5million plus waterfront mansions on the Sandbanks peninsula in recent years for successful City businessmen. Each was prepared to pay a premium price to own this prime real estate. The best properties on the Sandbanks peninsula are typically owned by clients who do not need to sell and would rather sit it out than sell at a discount to the large few years market values".

"Our enquiry levels for prime Sandbanks properties remain low but we are starting to see signs that these are increasing.....time will tell whether this translates into completed deals this summer".

Source: Timesonline / Sands Home Search

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Sands Home Search are property search agents who specialise in finding the finest properties for sale in London, the UK Country House, Estate, Equestrian & Farm property markets & the prime residential property market in Cape Town, South Africa.