Tag Archives: asian
Rental market expected to be stronger than sales in some parts of London
This year is expected to bring fewer sales and more letting transactions, with strong rental markets across London’s Midtown, City and Docklands, a new report suggests. There will be a two tier sales market with demand for properties up to £1 million continuing to attract buyers and a slower market at prices over £1 million, according to the latest report from property advisors and development consultants Hurford Salvi Carr. However, as the market slowed in 2014, two segments of the market bucked the trend, it reveals. ‘Demand for entry level one bed apartments continued to outstrip supply so that it will be no easier to buy a pied a terre in Central London in 2015 than it was in 2014,’ the report says. The other segment to buck the trend was Docklands, where demand strengthened, as buyers looked to East London, to deliver value for money, although plentiful supply kept a lid on price increases. Over the whole year, property prices rose by an average of 4% in 2014 in City, Midtown and Docklands. Strong demand from UK buy to let investors is expected in 2015 with a concentration on sub £750,000 levels where returns are most attractive. The firm also says that buyers from the UK dominated the residential markets in 2014, accounting for almost 70% of sales, in comparison to 54% in the first half of 2013 and 61% in 2013. Other European buyers also increased their share by a small margin but the big shift was in the proportion of Asian nationals, which dropped from 17% of sales in 2013 to 7% in 2014. Almost 70% of tenants who rented homes through Hurford Salvi Carr in 2014 were overseas nationals. Overall the split was 32% British, 31% other European and 37% from elsewhere in the world with Asians being the most dominant group within that. The Docklands attracted the highest proportion of British tenants at 43%, whereas Midtown attracted more Asian tenants and the City attracted more American tenants. The most common occupation for a tenant is in the financial sector, closely followed by students. The financial sector was more prevalent in the City and Docklands, where it made up over 30%, while students were by far the most common group in Midtown, where they accounted for 62% of all lettings. The relatively high proportion of Asian tenants in Midtown reflects the demand from overseas students at top universities such as UCL, King’s College and LSE. Continue reading
Research reveals the diversity of overseas buyers in London’s prime market
Over 30 different nationalities are buying prime property in central London with African making up the biggest group at 43.7%, new research shows. The next biggest group of overseas buyers are from the Middle East, making up 17.1% and then Asian and UK buyers both at 10%, according to the research from independent property buying agency Black Brick. Overall, Black Brick has represented 35 different nationalities, with Africans forming the highest percentage of buyers at 43.7% of all deals, followed by Middle Eastern buyers at 17.1% and then tied in third place Asian and UK buyers at 10% respectively. According to Camilla Dell, founder and managing partner of Black Brick, although the perception is that the majority of prime central London’s overseas buyers are Russian or Middle Eastern, Africans have always had a big affinity with the UK and London. ‘Over the last eight years, we have successfully acquired £236 million of residential property for African buyers from Nigeria, Kenya, Zambia, South Africa and Uganda,’ she said. ‘In particular, we’ve represented numerous buyers from Nigeria. Like a lot of our owner/occupier international clients, many wealthy Nigerians were educated in the UK and send their children to school here,’ she added. Typically, Nigerians like gated, secure developments, as this is what they are used to back home, where most houses and apartments are located within secure compounds. Even though London is of course, much safer than Nigeria, they still prefer to be in secure developments, preferably with a 24 hour concierge or porter, the research report points out.. In terms of location, for lower budgets, many Nigerians love new build developments such as Imperial Wharf, which is even known as ‘mini Lagos in some circles. However, high net worth Nigerian clients prefer to explore new areas and have privacy and opt for properties in areas such as Belgravia and the parts of Chelsea. The research shows that 39% of the firm’s Nigerian clients have bought in either SW3, SW10 or SW1, closely followed by 35% buying in North West London postcodes such as NW8, NW6 and N2. In addition, 58% of our Nigerian clients have been purchasing homes in London with the remaining 42% buying for investment. The data also highlights the fact the services of buying agents are not just for wealthy overseas buyers, with UK purchasers forming the third highest percentage of Black Brick’s buying clients. ‘The property market in London is time consuming, frustrating and difficult to navigate even for local buyers, hence the growing number of UK buyers within our client base. Our British clients tend to be busy executives from the financial services sector, who may have previously been looking for some time on their own, but have become increasingly disillusioned with not being able to find the right property, getting gazumped or having access to off market opportunities,’ explained Dell. She also revealed that 88% of the firm’s UK client base have been owner… Continue reading
UK and US buyers returning to the Italian property market
UK and US buyers are increasingly seeking properties in Italy as the challenging market conditions and currency shifts makes buying a second home even more attractive. According to Rupert Fawcett, a partner in Knight Frank’s Italian team the food, culture, wine and architecture and lifestyle in the country continues to attract overseas buyers. Italy may be still struggling to shake off the Eurozone debt crisis but with the euro significantly weaker against key currencies than a year ago there are deals to be found. ‘Italy continues to face challenging market conditions with Europe again coming under the spotlight recently over its muted economic growth and with some of Italy’s banks faring badly in the latest stress tests,’ said Fawcett. ‘But la dolce vita remains a permanent feature and continues to draw buyers wanting a slice of Italian life. Buying in Italy is primarily a lifestyle choice not driven by short term investment, but longer term enjoyment, and these factors continue to allow the market a certain level of resilience,’ he explained. He has noted increased interest this year in city living with an upturn in enquiries for Rome, Venice, Milan and Florence. ‘Rome has returned positive growth in the last quarter for the first time in several years, Venice is showing increases at the upper end and all cities have seen increased sales activity. We expect prices to remain stable in these locations over the next year, but we do not expect any price increases for at least the next few years,’ he added. In other areas there continues to be pressure on prices due in part to the availability of a large amount of stock which means buyers tend to deliberate for longer when searching for the perfect property. However, Fawcett said correctly priced properties in the best locations are finding good interest and, in some cases, multiple offers. Where vendors remain reluctant to reduce prices buyers are often not even enquiring let alone viewing. There has been a decline in interest from Russian buyers but both British and US buyers are returning to the Italian real estate market. There are fewer Russians at the upper end of the market around the €5 million plus mark and most notably around parts of Sardinia and coastal Tuscany, but there has been an increase in Russian interest at lower price points especially in Liguria. The influence of British and US buyers has also increased as both the pound and dollar strengthen against the euro. British buyers favour properties in Tuscany, Florence and Umbria as well as the Italian Lakes, Rome and Sardinia while US buyers favour properties in the Italian Lakes, Rome and Sardinia. French buyers are number one in Venice and also showing a lot of interest in property in Liguria and Rome. Germany buyers can be found in the Italian Lakes and Umbria while Scandinavian buyers favour Sardinia. For Dutch buyers Liguria, Venice, Tuscany, Florence and Umbria are the most popular. Fawcett pointed out that Milan will host the… Continue reading
