Asia Pacific buyers dominated London luxury home sales to foreigners with Hong Kongers topping the regional list, according to Knight Frank data, in the midst of political unrest.
Amongst Asia Pacific buyers, Hong Kongers were the leader by transactions at 9.2 percent, according to recently released Knight Frank data, in the first nine months of 2020.
In June, U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson open the floodgates and paved a pathway to citizenship for around 3 million Hong Kongers born before the British handover to China in 1997, in a move that its foreign secretary Dominic Rab said was a commitment to «not duck our historic responsibilities to its people».
And last month, it was unveiled that Hong Kong in 2019 had already registered an unprecedented 8-fold surge in the issuance of British National (Overseas) passport – the document that will enable emigration to the U.K. – long before the enactment of the national security law and the Johnson administration’s formal offer for residency and potential citizenship.
Asian Domination
Asia Pacific overall dominated the transaction ranks, with 6 out of the top 10 countries originating from the region. China notably slipped to fourth place overall after occupying top ranks in recent years and making up 15 percent of overseas transactions between January and September 2019, compared to just 8.3 percent in the same period this year.
China was followed by India (7.3 percent), Italy (5.5 percent), Switzerland (5.5 percent), Australia (4.6 percent), Bangladesh (3.7 percent), Japan (2.8 percent).
«Smart Money» in Europe
Occupying the top rank in the Knight Frank report is France which joins Italy and Switzerland as major European contributors to foreign transactions. At 11 percent, it has soared from a measly 2 percent last year in the same period – a trend Knight Frank attributes as part of «smart money» from Europe.
«Despite the background noise of Brexit, there is smart money in Europe targeting London,» said Tom Bill, head of U.K. residential research at Knight Frank. «The combination of a weak pound, a looming stamp duty hike and less competition from buyers who need to catch a long-haul flight has created a buying opportunity.»
Despite having finally reached a «no-deal» scenario from recent Brexit talks between the U.K. and the E.U., some of the bleaker predictions previously made are still far from materialization. PwC in 2016, for example, predicted that 100,000 finance jobs would be moved out of London by 2020 compared to a recent EY report that claims just 7,500 jobs from the sector relocated to Europe.
