Comment: Top-end sales a boost for city

Feb 13 2008 Liverpool Daily Post

LIVERPOOL’S property market is an unpredictable beast. Just two months ago, a city centre flat which sold for £206,000 in 2004 changed owners for the knockdown price of £101,000 – not a deal to inspire confidence buyers or sellers.

Yet, today, the Liverpool Daily Post reveals a property deal has been struck that suggests city centre living is very much de rigueur – the sale of Rumford’s two luxury penthouses in the award-winning Unity building.

The penthouses are reported to have sold for around £1.5m each, in a deal which means that a developer in Liverpool city centre has finally broken through the £1m ceiling for an apartment.

In addition, the other four penthouse suites in the building have also been sold, all thought to be around the £800,000 to £900,000 mark.

So what are we to make of the city’s apparently yo-yoing property market?

One thing is certain – there is a demand for luxury living in the heart of the city.

The quality of the build, prestige of the address and, of course, the breathtaking views from the Unity building, surely combine to offer the perfect city living package for anyone wealthy enough to afford it.

Top-end apartments at Grosvenor’s One Park West are also going well and a proposed scheme for the Pier Head – New World Square – is also expected to spark a flurry of interest from investors in up-market properties.

Less luxurious living space may not be in demand at present, and would-be buyers may well be waiting to see whether the credit crunch really is going to bite as deeply as some predict.

But the Unity sales are a heartening sign for Liverpool. There is no doubt that the sale will be widely reported in industry publications and the deal should send a strong message to other developers considering the city as a potential investment opportunity.

The distinctive pod penthouses are not only a pleasing addition to the city skyline; their sale is a PR coup as well.