UK

LONDON — The number of people trying to buy their first home dipped sharply in the past twelve months, a report said on Monday.

Hundreds of prospective property buyers in Northern Ireland have been thrown a lifeline after a landmark legal judgment ruled that a man who had agreed to purchase a flat during the property price boom cannot be forced to honour the contract.

At this moment in time the first-time buyer of property in the UK is a very rare commodity as mortgage lenders look to pull up the drawbridge and reduce their short-term risks. Despite the fact that we have seen an increase in the number of first-time property buyer mortgage options over the last few days this is not a trend which the vast majority of mortgage lenders in the UK have yet taken up. Many appear happy to sit on the sidelines and reduce their own risk/reward ratio while the UK property market continues to struggle.

Property consultancy Savills has seen profits surge on the back of the property boom in Asia and the recovery in London.

London's West End remains the world's most expensive office market, according to CB Richard Ellis Group, Inc. (CBRE) Global Research and Consulting's semi-annual Global Office Rents survey. Hong Kong's Central Business District (CBD) has risen to second place pushing Tokyo's Inner Central to third place. Mumbai is now in fourth position on the list while Moscow remains in fifth in the CBRE rankings, which tracks occupancy costs for prime office space in 176 cities around the globe.