Foreign buyers snap up half of £1m+ central London properties

Foreign buyers snapped up more than 49% of all £1m+ properties in prime central London in the year to June, research by Knight Frank has found.

However, only 28% of buyers were non-resident in the UK.

The research found that over the two years to June 2013, only 51% of new-build purchases in the prime central London market were made by UK residents.

The key findings of the report are as follows:

• Over the 12 months to June 2013, 49% of all £1m+ sales in prime central London went to foreign buyers by nationality, although only 28% of buyers were non-resident in the UK
• Over the two years to June 2013, 51% of new-build purchases in the prime central London market were by UK residents
• Across the remainder of inner London the portion was 80% – and across outer London 93% of sales were to UK residents
• Over the past two years 85% to 90% of all new-build purchases in Greater London have been to UK residents
• Over a two-year period there was no indication of a shift towards higher non-resident purchases over that period
• The majority of demand for new-build property in London from overseas remains focussed on the relatively concentrated market made up of the central London postcodes
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