House prices are a national obsession and in Kings Cross it can be hard to separate the fact from the fiction. Debate ebbs and flows about whether there has been a ‘kings cross effect’ or not. Or what will happen now the train is running and the ‘jam tomorrow’ of regeneration becomes more tangible. So I am delighted to welcome the first in what will hopefully be a series of articles by James Byford of Myspace estate agents on the Cally Road – contact details below. Unlike many estate agents James is deeply rooted in Kings Cross, living in the area himself and has a good historical perspective with some surprising conclusions:
‘As a local estate agent, it’s in my interest to keep up to date with the values of property and trends in and around the area. Back in the nineties, other parts of the surrounding area such as East Islington saw more purchases in both homes and investments, as did West Camden. However, around 2001 when we started seeing the first signs of regeneration in the Kings Cross area, many people jumped on the band wagon and started buying into the area, predominantly for investment purposes.
‘The area had a reputation as a red light district and was rather run down. Well, the “ladies” were moved on, the council began a programme of extensive refurbishment to many of the estates, and the award winning Regents Quarter began to take shape. The jewel in the crown was to be the Eurostar Terminal at St Pancras.
‘In 2001, the average price for a London property was £175,632 compared with the National average of £94,243. Kings Cross which is partly in the Borough of Camden and partly in the Borough of Islington had an average property value of £303,509 (I have taken an average of both Camden and Islington values, using the Halifax index which I admit is not entirely accurate but there is no specific index for “Kings Cross”)
‘Jump forward to 2007 and the London property scene has seen remarkable increases in values, as too has the National. However, you would imagine that Kings Cross would have seen considerably more, considering all the regeneration that has been going on, particularly against the London average, and yet it has seen only a 66% (£501,121) increase compared to the London rise of 82% (£319,313). The National index has risen 113% to £200,623.
‘Of course, much of the planned works are not complete. As I write this, we are yet to see the opening of the Eurostar (14th November) and the Canalside Concert Hall in 2008. There remains a large waste ground to the north of the station and many of the Local Authority owned properties are still cloaked in scaffolding. There is still much to do. Perhaps with the doom mongers predicting a slow down, or in some cases a drop in property values, now is the time to buy in Kings Cross and it will buck the trend?
To contact James drop in at Myspace Estate Agents, 328 Caledonian Road, London, N1 1BB or call +44 (0) 207 609 3598 or click here to email . To comment on this article use the comment function below. For the avoidance of doubt I have no commercial relationship with MySpace and am not trying to sell my flat.
Kings Cross Environment 
The Land Registry data is made available commercially and provides all registered transactions since 2000. There are several sites which republish these data and the one I look at sometimes is:
http://www.nethouseprices.com/index.php?con=sold_prices
Essentially just punch-in a postcode and it will show you transactions which can be refined by distance, date etc. This shows some pretty astonishing trends in market house prices. Earlier this year, a dozen or so new apartments on Gifford Street sold for between £250,000 (studio) and £320,000 (1 bedroomed)!
I don’t think averaging out Camden and Islington prices produces any meaningful guide to prices in Kings Cross (unless one believes that the Hampstead or Holloway markets are particularly relevant to Kings Cross). Looking at asking prices on the estate agent aggregator websites and on nethouseprices also gives very mixed messages, seemingly because there is such a range of quality of housing stock in the area. Asking prices within half a mile of my flat range from £300 to £800 per square foot.
Asking an estate agent maybe an expert view, but I’m afraid it’s not entirely impartial; they have the most to lose from a property market downturn.
I know there are quite a few London estate agents secretly bracing themselves for the worst, while giving the outward impression that everything is just fine.
Micro analysis of short term fluctuations seem to be favoured over broad analysis of the countless pressures being exerted upon the economy. Level-headed planning isn’t actually doom mongering. Its groundless optimism which has created a vastly over-valued market where our children have commute from Milton Keynes or Margate.
However, predicting where property prices will be in 2, 5 or 10 years numbers is like predicting the weather for March 14th 2010; you might be right, you might be wrong.
From the view of an economic historian, all I can say is that with moment that passes, we get progressively closer to a recession and an accompanying property crash. The trouble with “unparalleled extended periods of economic growth” is that one day, as sure as night follows day, they come to an end. Will KK be immune? I’m sure most people here hope so.