London property market: London eye

It has been, by turns, a rewarding and frustrating six weeks, with many instances of bumper prices on the one hand and disheartening, last-minute fall-throughs on the other, as prospective purchasers get the jitters and/or can’t get their lend.

Yes, it’s true, even high rollers aren’t immune to the credit crunch. Amusingly, one of my Rich List buyers is apoplectic at the process of getting a mortgage (welcome to the real world), waiting six weeks for approval on his £4.25million loan. This man has a super-short fuse and exasperatedly tells how he borrowed £800m in three days last year when he bought one of his competitors in the City. What a difference a year makes.

So, to the plus side. Our triumphs include selling a house off the King’s Road after one viewing for £4.3m; three bidders on a flat in Cadogan Square for £1.5m; ditto a penthouse in Lennox Gardens; over asking price on a flat in a prime Chelsea square from a German princess; sealed bids on a house in Kensington; selling a house in South Kensington in one week; putting Eva Herzigova’s uber-cool flat under offer; bringing Jane Churchill’s wonderful house to book; selling a flat in Knightsbridge to Mrs Wu from Zhengzhong for £7.7m – and so it goes on.

Furthermore, sales of properties over £10m have increased by 180 per cent since last year. Surely we must ask ourselves why the Super Rich continue to aggressively pour money into our prime bricks and mortar. For all you doubting Thomases out there, how do you explain that? No negativity here: we’re back in the souk doing deals, selling oil to the Arabs as they say, racing around, sleeves rolled up, concentrating on the buyers who wish to buy.