Hong Kong investors are going crazy for London real estate
£3.96 b
Chinese investors spent £3.96 billion ($5.10 billion) on London commercial property in the first half of 2017, more than the entire spend for all of 2016, according to data from the CBRE real estate group.
Published | Photo by Reuters/Hannah Mckay
Hong Kong accounts for 92% of China’s investment in London commercial property, which has more than tripled since the Brexit referendum last June.
Chinese investors are buying London real estate at new records, including the recent $1 billion-plus sales of the “Cheesegrater” and “Walkie Talkie” towers.
Hong Kong is facing an era of political uncertainty; A recent appeals court ruling jailed three pro-democracy activists, leading to questions of the judiciary’s independence.
Foreign commercial property is attractive to investors looking to take their capital out of unstable Hong Kong because it’s a secure, non-liquid asset that generates solid returns.
London is especially enticing to Chinese investors. Since the Brexit vote, the pound has declined 12% against the US dollar, which the Hong Kong dollar is pegged to.
The US still receives the largest share of foreign real estate investment from China, but that percentage declined in the first half of 2017, while increasing in the UK.
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