Growing interest in Hong Kong buyers in London property
The newly built luxury home market is getting an unexpected boost from Hong Kong buyers. This is despite the fact this sector has been on the decline in the last five years, thanks to worries over Brexit, as well as tax changes and oversupply.
Why are Hong Kong residents buying London houses?
According to commercial office agents and analysts, ongoing issues in Hong Kong regarding anti-government protests have led to London purchases.
Experts believe that Hong Kong residents have started purchasing in the capital once again to revive its links with London.
The protests have led some Hong Kong families to look for property elsewhere, as a way of escaping volatility if they need to. For many people in the semi-autonomous city, London is a safe location to turn to in these difficult times.
Interest in the luxury property sector
The proportion of Hong Kong buyers seeking to purchase luxury properties (with a price tag of between £1m-£2.5m) in the city has increased in the past three to four months.
Why are Hong Kong buyers purchasing luxury properties in the capital?
Reasons that buyers from Hong Kong have been so interested in this area of the property sector include the weakness in sterling and falling luxury property prices.
The weakness in sterling is something that many buyers from the territory expect to continue, in part due to the ongoing political uncertainty that is affecting the UK due to Brexit. This makes luxury property investment far more attractive to buyers overseas.
However, it should be noted that for Hongkongers, not only is the capital an excellent investment opportunity but a place to live too.
With many highly-rated schools and universities, a number of families from the territory decide to move to London on a full-time or part-time basis. Some clients have raised fears of their children getting implicated in the protests, making overseas education in an area like London very appealing.
New builds most popular with Hong Kong buyers
It is estimated that about a fifth of 5,156 new homes bought in the capital in the third quarter of 2019 were bought by overseas purchasers. Many of these properties were bought by buyers located in Hong Kong and China.
These houses, which are at the upmarket foot level of between £1,000-£1,200 per square foot, have not been selling well for a number of years. However, Q3 sales figures represented the highest figure in over a year and a half.