A report published in several leading newspapers today highlighted how the credit crunch has affected property prices in one of London’s most exclusive areas, Mayfair.

Many of us will know of the game Monopoly and be familiar with the huge rents you paid when “landing on Mayfair”, often enough to wipe you out of the game.  Well maybe things are about to change.

Mayfair had become the home of hedge fund managers, with their companies often making vast profits and paying out huge salaries, they could afford to pay high rents, and probably even helped to increase rents from their demand for prestigious properties. 

Now times have changed, some companies have closed, others relocating, and many fund managers no longer make the huge salaries and bonuses that had become the norm in recent years.  The upshot is rental demand has fallen, and of course this has fed into a huge drop in rents and property prices.  Mind you, for most of us Mayfair is still hugely expensive, but maybe it will get “relegated” in the game of Monopoly.