Asian investors from Malaysia, Hong Kong and Singapore are watching with interest as the capital values across London’s prime residential areas begin to stall.
With the May 7 UK general election now only days away and with politicians ramping up pressure on investors by way of a potential mansion tax London’s luxury market may be in holding pattern for a while yet. Prices in and around core London are already high and overseas buyers are waiting on the sidelines.
Should there be no outright winner in the election and coalition building be drawn out such an outcome could also put pressure on the British currency. On the other hand if the ruling Conservative party were to win a clear majority that could potentially stimulate the central and luxury London market.
Capital values in major cities outside of London however rebounded driven by demand from domestic end users. Glasgow recorded 7.6% growth, Manchester 6.8% while Oxford came in at 13.4% for the year.
In the borough of Wandsworth home of the £8bn Malaysian-backed Battersea Power Station project where the developers are building 3,500 homes, offices, shops and a park, there was a modest 5.8% increase.
In what might be a pointer for Asian investors to look at Tokyo, home of the 2020 Olympics, the borough of Newham host to the London 2012 games gained 14.2%.
The average U.K. house price has now risen by more than 20 percent since the 2009 trough to £186,878.
