Foreigners unafraid of change
Trophy properties in London are as hot as ever.
£12.2 billion was spent buying London offices through the first three quarters of this year and nearly half came from private Chinese and Hong Kong buyers, according to real-estate consultant Knight Frank.
That's a huge jump from the same period in 2016 when they accounted for less than a quarter of spending and 2015 (pre-Brexit) when they bought just 7%.
Asian buyers are said to be far outbidding investors for property. They are willing to pay a premium to move money out of China and because London real estate yields more than comparable buildings in China.
These two London landmarks both sold to Chinese/Hong Kong investors in the past 8 months:
