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.
It is a well rehearsed fact that, since the downturn, the rich are getting richer. According to a recent report by Merrill Lynch and Capgemini, the number of millionaires across the globe grew by 8.3 per cent to 10.9m in 2010. The total wealth of these individuals rose to $42,700bn, up from $40,700bn in 2007.
The Exchequer is losing millions in tax revenue as more top London homes are traded behind scenes through offshore companies. Demand for property in the best postcodes, much of it from foreign investors seeking a safe haven for their money, has continued to push up prices in prime London locations, bucking the national downward trend.
It used to be that when London did well, the rest of the country did well a year later. Not any more Graham Norwood reports on the UK’s “Two Markets” Like rolls of a camera film and coin-operated phone boxes in the street, the housing market has its share of nostalgic but outdated concepts. one […]
Vastu is the new feng shui – or, rather, the old one, given that some say the former inspired the latter.
… around 40 per cent of the world’s most expensive real estate is bought by Asian buyers for whom the “energy” of a house can be important – and vastu is already impacting on non-Asian design.
We were delighted to be interviewed for a recent radio programme on “The Voice of Russia” about why and where Russia’s billionaires are buying property.
