Wealthy foreign buyers are snapping up London’s most expensive homes in cash, tempted by a cooling property market and weak pound.
Half of the homes sold in “prime” central London in January were bought without a mortgage, up from 42pc in the same month in 2022 and 38pc in January 2021, according to analysis by estate agency Hamptons.
Demand from international buyers, especially those with currencies pegged to the US dollar, surged in the wake of the mini-Budget last year as the pound dropped to a record low and they pounced on huge discounts.
The pound has since recovered to the level seen in August last year, but buyers who exchanged funds during the market dip are now reaping the rewards.
Price of money drops, increasing demand for that money, more buy it, the value of that money starts to recover.
Almost like there might be some rules about this or summat
Hunh
Sellers of prime London property are leaving money on the table. They should set their prices in dollars, not pounds. (Some already do.)
@AndrewM Is that legal? I mean, expressing your asking price in, dunno, abalone seashells or Dior perfume stock isn’t exactly forbidden, but don’t you run into valuation problems for taxes, insurance and stuff?
Afaik real estate must be expressed in the local legal tender, which for London would be the british pound, however volatile that currency unit is?
Opening ask could be in any currency – the MCP will be the same (and also doesn’t matter what currency it’s in). For valuation or capital gain purposes you just convert to local currency at the exchange rate on the day.