By Andrew Batt:
Property developers from London still need buyers from Southeast Asia despite a notable increase in the number of British buyers who have returned to the market in the last few weeks.
Singaporeans were the leading overseas buyers of off-plan prime central London property last year. Sales to local buyers are still strong but in the last month the market has seen a resurgence of British buyers. More overseas nationalities, including those from North Africa and the Middle East, have been buying in London in greater numbers this year.
Tim Pettman, Regional Sales Manager of Berkeley Homes, said: “Singapore is an important part of our business.” He added that his company has no plans to reduce the number of projects it plans to showcase to local buyers.
Pettman was speaking at the Singapore exhibition for Lord Kensington House, the latest phase of his company’s 375 Kensington High Street development. This latest launch features 95 units, and was attracting interest and sales from local buyers in what was a quiet weekend for overseas property exhibitions.
The project was exhibited in Jakarta last week where it also attracted strong interest from Indonesian buyers. It has also been sold to buyers in Malaysia and Thailand.
Speaking about the resurgence of British buyers, Pettman, speaking exclusively to PropertyGuru, said: “The number of enquiries we’ve been seeing has been a lot stronger. There seems to be a lot more confidence among local buyers, but where that confidence is coming from is a complex question.”
Apartments and penthouses at 375 Kensington High Street are priced from £875,000 (S$1.67 million) to more than £3 million (S$5.73 million). Currently more than 35 percent of the 95 units have been sold.
Andrew Batt, International Group Editor of PropertyGuru, wrote this story. To contact him about this or other stories email andrew@propertyguru.com.sg
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