By Andrew Batt:
EXCLUSIVE: Any suggestion that Asian interest in London property is diminishing appears to be a long way from reality.
Media reports last week suggested that Asian interest in investment property in the U.K. capital could be diminishing; however London real estate agents contacted by DDproperty.com insisted that interest remains stronger than ever.
Oliver Gibson, Director of Development and Investment at WAEllis, told DDproperty.com: “In the past month we have been seeking both development and investment opportunities in prime central London on behalf two Thai investors. The focus has now turned to investment stock, which I am hoping to satisfy soon, and we are currently aware of six blue-chip rental investment blocks, all currently off-market and in our specialist areas of Knightsbridge, Chelsea, Kensington, Belgravia and Mayfair.” He added that Thai entrepreneurs are also interested in investing in the prime London market.”
Cluttons, an international property consultants and chartered surveyor, also reported high levels of interest from Asia. A spokesperson for the company said: “Some 57 per cent of overseas high-net-worth individuals (HNWI) name London real estate as their top target investment class. Global appetite for both London residential and commercial real estate assets has seen an upturn in the last 12 months with overseas investors (both institutional and individual) contributing almost 90 per cent in recent commercial asset transactions.”
Camilla Dell, of London-based buying agents Black Brick, underlined the importance of Asian buyers to the London market.
She said: “Asian buyers are hugely important. London has become hugely attractive because where many investors feel that their own local property markets have become over-heated and are about to fall.”
Adding a final word of caution, she said: “Asian buyers are significant buyers of London property, particularly off-plan new builds. However, buyers should be careful what scheme they are buying and the exact location. Many buyers of off-plan property end up making costly mistakes, thinking the development is prime when in reality it isn’t."
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