KEY POINTS:
London's second-largest house was advertised for sale at £75 million ($215 million) only six weeks after it was listed for less than half that amount.
Witanhurst, a 94-year-old mansion, is set on 2ha of land in Highgate. The only bigger home in London is Buckingham Palace.
Property developer
Marcus Cooper bought the property in July, when it was listed at £32 million. The sale price wasn't disclosed by Knight Frank, the broker handling the sale.
Cooper said at the time that he planned to renovate Witanhurst and sell it as London's first £150 million home. He will now consider selling the property before restoring it, although he's still interviewing architects for the restoration project. "We are aware of interest in the building in its current condition and have set a guide price of £75 million should our agents receive inquiries," Cooper said.
Prices for London luxury homes climbed at a record monthly pace in July as buyers competed for a smaller number of properties, Knight Frank said.
Investment bankers and hedge-fund managers with bonuses to spend are vying with rich individuals from Asia, the Middle East and Russia for a shrinking supply of prime real estate in central London.
A Knight Frank brochure says the red-brick mansion, on a hill at the edge of Hampstead Heath, overlooks the city. It has 25 bedrooms, 12 bathrooms, a gym, sauna and extensive gardens that need to be restored, Buckingham Palace, the London residence of the Queen, has 775 rooms, including 52 royal and guest bedrooms and 188 staff bedrooms, according to the website of the British Monarchy.
Witanhurst was built between 1913 and 1920 by Arthur Crosfield, a wealthy soap manufacturer.
His wife was an amateur tennis player who hosted annual tennis parties, including one in 1951 that was attended by the Queen, who was then Princess Elizabeth.
The Crosfields' son, Paul, sold Witanhurst in 1966.
It was used as the setting for the BBC talent-show series Fame Academy.
House prices in Britain are likely to increase 40 per cent over the next five years because of a shortage of properties, says a report by the National Housing Federation.
The average value of a home will rise to £302,400 by 2012, said the London-based organisation, which represents 1300 housing associations.
The federation said it expects housing prices in London to escalate 48 per cent to £478,300.
- Bloomberg
