Singapore -- (SBWire) -- 04/08/2011 -- According to new research by Knight Frank, the Chinese are now the biggest buyers of luxury property in London, having overtaken investors from Russia.
Property investors from mainland China spent an average of £6.5 million (US$10.4 million) per luxury property between February 2010 and February 2011, beating the average of more than sixty other nationalities who bought property in London over the same time period.
The figures show that investors from Hong Kong and Malaysia are the next biggest spenders, paying an average of £6 million (US$9.5 million) per property.
Russian buyers dropped to fourth place, spending on average £5.4 million (US$8.6 million).
“Until two years ago, the most affluent buyers in the central London market were Russian, on average they outspent every other nationality by far,” said Liam Bailey, head of Knight Frank Residential Research.
“But the average purchase price paid by Russian buyers has been dragged down by the growing pool of millionaires joining the billionaire buyers,” he concluded.
Although they are no longer the biggest spenders per property, Russian’s are still the most prolific buyers of property in London, buying up six percent of all £2 million (US$3.2 million) plus valued properties over the past year, but agents say the Chinese are the ones to watch.
Although Chinese buyers actually bought less high-end property in London than other nationalities, real estate agents are reporting high levels of interest from Chinese buyers this year, especially in trophy homes.
Local agents say that wealthy clients from China are looking for property between £15 million (US$24 million) and £25 million (US$40 million) in up-market areas such as Mayfair and St. James.
Article source... http://www.ovgmarketing.com/china-biggest-spender-on-luxury-property-in-london-uk/
China Biggest Spender on Luxury Property in London, Uk