The latest figures from the respected Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors confirm that London is holding up well despite gloomy reports from the most of the rest of the UK.

RICS housing spokesman Jeremy Leaf said: “Despite the more positive picture for some parts of the UK, the general mood is still downbeat. However, London is bucking the trend with the market looking positive as it moves into the spring. With instructions gathering steam at roughly the same pace as enquiries, London agents could see a modest upturn in transactions in the coming months. However, the lack of mortgage finance continues to hold the market back."

At the risk of sounding smug, this is exactly as I've been forecasting since last autumn. In fact, I am now so confident in my analysis I will risk disagreeing with Jeremy on one point: lack of mortgage finance is not holding the prime central London market back because most buyers in this elevated area pay cash.