Remote work is tanking home prices in the heart of London

When he was running his own hedge fund, Peter Brewer's working life was grueling. He was usually at his desk by 6 a.m., and worked up to 100 hours a week. Commuting long hours, from his home some 30 miles south of central London to the British capital's historic financial district, felt like an unnecessary extra burden. So in 2014, Brewer, who was recently divorced and with a new partner, decided to buy a six-bedroom split-level penthouse apartment a six-minute walk from work.

- Ruth Bloomfield

Back in 2014, the City, a compact and historic neighborhood just north of the River Thames, was primarily famous as a commercial district. It houses a variety of financial institutions, including the Bank of England and the London Stock Exchange. But at about the same time as Brewer moved in, change was afoot. The Heron, the City's first major residential development in decades, had been completed in 2013 and off-plan sales of its 284 homes across 36 stories had been strong. This spurred investment in more luxury apartment buildings, and simultaneously the arrival of fashionable bars and restaurants.

The result was a strong, sustained uptick in property sale prices, as buyers embraced the idea of living as close as possible to work. In 2013, the average sale price of homes in the City was $713,367, according to data from estate agent Hamptons. By 2024, sale prices had jumped to $1 million, an increase of 40.5%. Sale prices in Prime Central London rose by 15% in the same period, according to Hamptons.

For Brewer, now 50, long hours and early starts are a thing of the past. In 2022, he semiretired and now works one day a week as nonexecutive chairman of a new fund. The rest of the time is spent with his family—he has three children from his first marriage, and two from his current one. He has also rethought his living arrangements, and is building a 10-bedroom eco-friendly home in the county of Surrey, about 30 miles south west of central London. He expects that it will be finished in spring 2025.

In November, Brewer put his City apartment up for sale. It is listed with Knight Frank with a guide price of $5.02 million, or $1,880 per square foot. Given the City's strong price growth, he expected to make a decent profit on his investment.

Unfortunately for Brewer, that 40.5% leap in the City's average sale price disguises a recent upset.