(Bloomberg) --
Overseas investors are back in London’s luxury housing market.
International buyers bought 48% of the homes sold in the city’s priciest districts in the first half of the year, according to data compiled by Hamptons. That’s a 13 percentage point jump on a year earlier when travel restrictions were in place and ahead of the 45% of homes bought in 2019, the year before the pandemic struck, the broker’s data show.
Across London there are signs of recovery in sectors that are particularly dependent on international tourists and investors, even as storm clouds gather over the domestic economy. Covent Garden landlord Capital & Counties Properties Plc reported rising rents and values Tuesday as more travelers visited the city and shopped in its luxury stores.
“A buyer purchasing a £1 million ($1.2 million) house with dollars is likely to have saved £66,000 compared to last year, purely down to currency changes,” said Aneisha Beveridge, head of research at Hamptons.
Still, while international buyers are back shopping for London’s priciest homes, properties in outer districts have seen less activity from foreign investors according to Hamptons. Domestic buyers accounted for 79% of deals in Greater London in the six months through June, up from 77% in 2021 and 73% in the year before the pandemic hit.
©2022 Bloomberg L.P.
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