British buyers snap up over half of London’s £10m homes
THE NUMBER of Brits buying UK properties worth over £10m has soared over the past year and they now make up most of the market as the economic recovery gathers pace.
British buyers of super-prime homes have risen from 36 per cent in 2013 to 53 per cent of the market since the start of 2014, figures out yesterday from property agency Knight Frank show.
UK and European buyers have become more confident as threats like the collapse of the euro declined. Buyers from these markets accounted for nearly four in five deals over £10m in the year to April compared with 46 per cent last year.
“There are more British buyers in the super-prime bracket than at any time since the collapse of Lehman Brothers,” said Tom Bill, Knight Frank’s head of London residential research.
The property firm said now that macroeconomic risks have faded, fewer foreign buyers are seeking the safe-haven appeal of London property, with the average annual price growth in prime central London slowing to 7.5 per cent in April and to 3.3 per cent for £10m-plus homes.
But events around the world such as the conflict in Ukraine or China’s economic slowdown could still prompt a second wave of money to pour into the super-prime London market and put upwards pressure on prices, Knight Frank said.
At the same time, buyers have been looking beyond the traditional prime London areas of Knightsbridge, Mayfair and Belgravia for better value to places such as Marylebone and Hyde Park.
Only a quarter of super-prime deals have taken place in these so-called golden postcodes so far this year, compared with 51 per cent last year.