The proportion of homes bought by international buyers in London rose by 2% year-on-year according to H1 statistics published by estate agent Hamptons International.
Hamptons’ research found the number of properties going to foreign buyers matches the five-year record set in H2 2017, which saw 35% of residential property go to overseas buyers.
Prime central London (PCL), Kensington and Chelsea, Mayfair and associated areas, which have borne the brunt of tax changes to high value property, fell to a rate of two in five home sales going to an international buyer.
Despite this overall PCL fall, buyers from the EU (up 5%), Russia (up 2%), the Middle Eastern (up 1%) and South Africa (up 1%) all bought more homes in H1 2018 compared with the same period the previous year.
EU buyers bought 15% of homes in PCL in H1 2018, up from 10% in both H1 2017 and H2 2017. However, this remains below the peak of 23% in H1 2016 just before the vote to quit the EU on 23 June.
Hamptons estimates the changes in currency are behind the EU uptick.
For an EU buyer, a home that would have cost £1m (€1.12m, $1.3m) in H1 2016 now costs £885,450 due to sterling’s depreciation. This means it’s 11% cheaper for an EU buyer to buy a home in the UK now than it was in H1 2016.
