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A London home? Yes, please - although I don't really need it

Why overseas investors can’t get enough of the capital.

December 2, 2010 16:01
What slump? One Hyde Park was sold for a record-breaking £140m

By

Candice Krieger,

Candice Krieger

4 min read

Foreign buyers go to Italy to buy leather goods, to France to buy designer clothes and to London to buy a property. This is according to veteran estate agent Trevor Abrahmsohn, the founder and managing director of Glentree Estates in north London.

Renowned as the billionaires' agent, the South African is famous for selling expensive, or "trophy" homes, to overseas investors. Around 40 per cent of his clients are from abroad.

Undeterred by the financial crisis, wealthy overseas buyers have been returning to London over the past couple of years as the market for trophy homes bucks the wider property slump.

Reports indicate that the number of foreign investors buying homes in London rose from 53 per cent to 68 per cent between June 2009 and 2010 - even higher at the top end of the market.

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