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Journalism of Courage
Without ever setting eyes on the property,Hong Kong resident Irene Chu snapped up a flat 6,000 miles away in London,a city she has visited but has no intention of ever living in. Im not buying the high-end property. I just bought one close to the tube line and thats a pretty safe investment, said the 40-something business executive who paid 215,000 322,500 for her apartment.
Chu isnt alone. Over the past year,Asians have invested a total of 761 million,or more than 1 billion,in newly built apartments in central London,up from around 250 million a year earlier,according to real estate company Knight Frank.
Their interest has been duly noted. Since late last year,a steady stream of British developers,such as Barratt,Berkeley Group and Ballymore Group,have been wooing affluent Asians like Chu by hosting swanky exhibitions complete with lawyers and agents on hand. The proportion of Asian investors buying new apartments in central London has increased to 50 per cent,up from about 30 per cent in the previous year,Knight Frank said. There are some worries that Britain could be headed for a double-dip recession but Asian buyers still deem London properties a good buy given housing prices in their home markets,have risen sharply,creating bubble fears.
Investors also think there is room for growth in Britains housing prices after the global crisis. The last 12 months have been the strongest in selling London property to Asia in 15 years, said Darien Bradshaw,regional director for international properties at Colliers,which has been marketing flats in Asia via exhibitions.
Colliers sold around 200 million worth of British apartments in Asia so far this year,already outpacing the 150 million for the whole of 2009,to buyers in Hong Kong,Singapore,Malaysia and China. Colliers,which helps market projects for developers,has held 26 exhibitions throughout Asia this year marketing mainly London apartments,and has plans for another 20.
Developers say Asian buyers are used to purchasing off the plan,meaning that they are willing to place orders before the construction of the apartments are complete. At the exhibitions,housing agents usually hand out glossy booklets that list all kinds of information ranging from flat prices and rental yields to the nearest parks and subway stops from major spots,such as London Bridge and Canary Wharf.
