Investors have rushed in to reserve luxury homes planned for the revamped Battersea Power Station, with 600 of the 800 properties already claimed after just five days on the market.
The buyers are the first to advance on the redevelopment of south-west London’s iconic behemoth where the price tag per square foot exceeds £1,000.
The UK is experiencing a sharp increase in the number of HNWs making the move from Eastern countries, particularly China. Chloe Barrow finds out why AS UNATTRACTIVE AS living in the UK may be — the faltering economy, the unpredictable weather, sky-high living costs and seemingly hefty income tax — there is no denying its global popularity as a homemaking destination.
As more wealthy Asians seek to buy property overseas as an investment or short-term residence, their private bankers are only too happy to help. The wealth management divisions of banks are reporting a brisk business in setting up short-term revolving loans for property purchases. The term is usually five years, renewable annually after that, and the interest rate is set individually in accordance with the borrower’s credit profile.
Anna Tyzack talks to the people tasked with finding and buying the finest properties.
Since the economic crisis, the famed and fortuned- or some of them, at least- have recoiled from the ostentatious displays of wealth synonymous with the property bubble that lasted until 2007.
As irresistable as the glossy brochures of large scale housing schemes may be, many home hunters might find a better deal if they focus on smaller, less high-profile developments. One attraction of these more humble projects is their “specialness” offering the chance to buy a “one off” flat, rather than clone of the other 199 apart-ments in the block.
Forget bunds, gilts or gold. London prime central residential property is emerging as the safest of all safe havens. If you want to know where those in the know put their personal savings, just talk to a real estate agent in London.
Luxury-home prices in central London rose the most in 10months as overseas buyers seeking the safety o f one of the world’s most resilient property markets propelled demand, Knight Frank LLP said in a report today.
The residential property market in the Prime Central London (PCL) area will remain bullish in 2012, spurred by demand from foreign investors looking for a safe haven amidst uncertain global market conditions, said UK real estate agents and property consultants.
London’s luxury market saw prices increase for a 14th consecutive month in December 2011 as overseas property buyers slugged it out to buy “safer” investments and to compete in a sector that is beginning to suffer from a severe lack of stock, international agency Knight Frank LLP told OPP this week.
INVESTMENTS into strata-titled office, retail and industrial units in Singapore, as well as overseas homes, are set to pick up as investors search for alternative assets to buy following fresh government measures to cool the residential market here.
Proposals unveiled last week by the government to boost the housing market — including a scheme to help encourage the return of 95% mortgages — are, as ever, directed towards the new-build market, which is, at present, turning out less than half the number of properties required.
SINGAPOREAN buyers now account for around 10 per cent of all purchasers at ‘new-build’ properties in Central London, industry players say.
According to estimates from sales agents at major property firms, buyers from Asia make up about 40 per cent of all investors for new-build projects (that is, projects where construction hasn’t begun) in Central London.
