London mansion prices fall 11.5%; bubble may have burst

London

LONDON'S most expensive homes and apartments have slumped in value as the government's stamp duty sales tax damps demand.

Prices of homes valued at £5 million (S$10.8 million) or more fell 11.5 per cent on a per square foot basis in the third quarter from a year earlier, according to Richard Barber, a director at broker WA Ellis LLP, a unit of Jones Lang LaSalle Inc. Sales volumes across all homes in the best parts of central London dropped 14 per cent in the period, the realtor said on Thursday.