Everyone knows London is an international property market favoured by many, especially Malaysian parents whose kids are studying there. Property prices are high and it has continued to rise despite some prediction of a bubble. How much do we know about Londoners themselves? People who were born there, study there, stay there and work there? I think they should be doing well and are happy that London is an international destination for many. Well, it’s not the case with a recent case where up to 400 people tried to disrupt a prestigious property event in London. They were hoping to highlight the rising cost of living which was caused among others by the inflating of property prices by overseas buyers.
The situation was under control because the police held back the protesters and prevented them from entering the conference area. I am not sure what would have happened if the commotion was inside the event venue instead of outside. For the past 12 months, there has been a growing anti-foreign buying resentment. This caused a few high profile developers to pledge that they would sell their properties within UK first before opening it to the overseas market.
Actually, these situations always happen to locals. The reason is because for the locals, they would normally already own a property or stay with their parents. Thus, the newer launchings due to its price would seldom attract the locals first. With London being an international city, the developers would naturally sell overseas. Some of these properties were attractively priced and the first batch of investors were primarily the super rich followed by those who were thinking of diversification of their property portfolios. Of course these days, it is no longer limited to just these two groups as even the middle income Singaporeans may find London property prices acceptable even when compared to their home. Another plus point would be, all these owners would be proud to tell their friends that they own a property in London.
If you are thinking of buying London, I seriously think it would be okay if you are ready to hold if situation suddenly take a bad turn. After all, it’s London. However, please bear in mind that prices have continuously been challenging new highs and there’s no such thing as forever higher than the sky prices.
written on 16 Oct 2014
Next suggested article: 334sf for RM5 Million. Pretty expensive? It’s a ‘modernised’ historical unit.
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