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Market WatchNov. 16, 2022
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Demand for prime London property among North American buyers has soared due to the strength of the U.S. dollar, one real-estate brokerage has claimed.
Luxury property brokerage Nest Seekers has reported a 50% jump in inquiries about London property from American buyers, citing “favourable exchange rates, a current need for diversification of portfolios and the perceived safety of the British market.”
“American investors who are buying in dollars are saving 16% on currency fluctuations since the start of the year, which is unprecedented, and buyers across the pond know this,” said Shelby Coleman, an agent at Nest Seekers on the U.S.’s East Coast.
The agency is also seeing interest from young professionals who want to expand their portfolios now that travel has opened up, according to Nest Seekers West Coast agent Natalie Hernandez.
The agency says that, as a result of the demand, it currently has £36 million in property deals under offer to North American buyers. Mayfair, Regent’s Park and Marylebone are the most desired London locations in which to buy and rent property, according to Daniel McPeake, managing director of Nest Seekers Europe.
These locations are prime central London postcodes, and, even though the general housing market has been rocked by high mortgage costs, there are only a few ripples in the upper echelon of the market.
In a recent report by real-estate agency Knight Frank, head of residential research Tom Bill said the affluence of the buyers and wider base of international buyers throwing cash at London property is helping to dampen the impact from higher mortgage rates.
“Higher mortgage costs will reverberate up through housing markets and be felt in prime London postcodes. However, the impact will be less marked due to higher levels of affluence and housing equity as well as a broader base of returning international buyers,” he said.
He added that the proportion of cash buyers purchasing prime central London, known as PCL, property in the first nine months of this year was 52%, compared with 30% in prime outer London.
“We expect prices to fall by 3% next year in PCL before rising modestly in subsequent years,” he added.
