London's 'billionaire's avenue' defies economic gravity

0 Comments | AFP, February, 2008

LONDON (AFP) — Even as Britain's property market shows signs of struggling, one north London street is defying the gloom-mongers: houses on "billionaire's avenue" are still selling for record prices.

Like an oasis of wealth in an increasingly parched real estate desert, The Bishops Avenue in Hampstead remains a booming property hotspot -- despite, for some, little in the way of elegance or discretion.

"Among the wealthiest in the world, The Bishops Avenue is better known than Buckingham Palace," Trevor Abrahamson of estate agents Glentree International told AFP with a hint of pride, having sold most of the 66 houses in the street.

After a period of uncertainty when the Dotcom bubble burst around 2000 -- empty properties were occupied by squatters, and there...