With buyers and investors from Asia accounting for one in every four property purchases in London above £5 million, buyers from Africa are now one of the fast-growing nationalities in the sector.
During the past three years, it’s been the super-rich African oligarchs who have spent more than £600 million on luxury residential property in London’s best addresses
African buyers now account for 5 percent of all ultra-prime residential sales by value, up from 2 percent from two years ago.
These African super-rich originate from just six continental African countries and prefer to buy property in Mayfair, Belgravia and Knightsbridge. There are 15 key addresses across London where wealthy African buyers have spent between £7.5 million and £25 million on luxury property over the last few years, with the top addresses seeing £30 million upwards spent on homes
A staggering 80 percent of these Africans spend £15 million to £25 million on London property, with 10 percent spending more than £30 million.
The six top African countries for London property buyers are Nigeria, Ghana, Congo, Gabon, Cameroon and Senegal. Nigerians are the top spenders in London, buying more than £250 million worth of property over the last three years.
Real estate firm Beauchamp Estates has highlighted that these African buyers prefer to buy property in the best addresses in Mayfair, Belgravia and Knightsbridge (known as the ‘platinum triangle’) with 80 percent typically spending between £15 million to £25 million on a residential property, and 10 percent spending more than £30 million. Some 70 percent of these UHNW African buyers purchase a large family house, with the balance choosing a large lateral apartment of three or more bedrooms.
Beauchamp Estates revealed that Continental African buyers currently account for around just 1.5 percent of all sales by number of transactions in the ultra-prime London market, however because 70 percent of them choose to purchase expensive houses for end use, they account for 5 percent of all sales by value, and that’s up from 2 percent just two years ago.
Gary Hersham, Director at Beauchamp Estates, said: “It is going to be the African century and these six countries are the standard-bearers in the London property market.
“Continental African buyers or luxury tenants in London are currently where the Russians and Ukrainians were five years ago. They have the resources and desire to purchase or rental luxury homes in Prime Central London, but they have less knowledge of the best properties and addresses and seek our local knowledge and insider advice on where to buy and what makes a good investment.
“At present virtually all the transactions are for end use, not rental investment, which indicates that the African buyer market in London has significant room for growth and maturity.”
Image: A property in St John’s Wood, London that has been attracting interest from African buyers.
Andrew Batt, International Group Editor of PropertyGuru Group, wrote this story. To contact him about this or other stories email andrew@propertyguru.com.sg
