New figures show a 72% rise in online searches for British real estate from potential buyers and investors located outside of the UK, as many identify the “rare opportunity to buy into the market at favourable prices, with a long-term view”.
Summary:
- Demand for UK property from investors based overseas has surged since the 2016 European Union referendum
- New research show “a clear rise in the proportion of (online) searches for UK property which are taking place overseas since June 2016”
- Birmingham, Glasgow, London and Manchester are the most popular cities for international buyers looking for a “rare opportunity to buy into the market” with promising exchange rates
Are you currently hesitating over making an investment in the UK’s property market?
Well you could be in the minority, as new figures suggest that many international investors are actually doing the opposite and are taking advantage of the opportunity created by the ongoing Brexit process.
According to property portal Placebuzz, there has been a significant uptick in the number of inquiries from overseas buyers since the UK’s voted to leave the European Union (EU) on 23rd June 2016.
In the first three months of 2019 alone, investors based overseas accounted for 6.2% of all activity on the Placebuzz portal. This is a 72% increase on the 3.6% of total activity from international buyers during January to March 2016.
Regional cities Glasgow, Birmingham and Manchester, along with the capital London, top the list of the most popular cities where searches are being made.
While analysis suggests a proportion of these inquiries could be from expats looking to return back to the UK, international buyers looking to take advantage of the weakened pound following the vote for Brexit are accounting for a significant amount of this activity.
Placebuzz also predicted that, if sterling was to lose further value against the dollar due to the prolonged Brexit process, then this could further increase the demand from overseas investors.
“With sterling currently worth around 12% less against the dollar than pre-referendum, buying UK property is a very shrewd move for foreign investors looking to secure a bargain,” explained Neil Tillott, Business Director at Placebuzz.
“Owning property in the UK is a goal of many overseas property investors and we’ve seen a clear rise in the proportion of searches for UK property which are taking place overseas since June 2016.”
He added: “Foreign buyers view the impact of Brexit on the value of sterling as a rare opportunity to buy into the market at favourable prices, with a long-term view.”
