London's Rich Sell as Foreign Money Pours In

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Britain's rich and famous are moving out of central London's most up-market districts and being replaced by wealthy overseas buyers, according to new research.

Savills, the estate agent, says £3.7bn of foreign money is pouring into the prime London housing market every year and especially into areas such as Mayfair, Kensington, Notting Hill and Chelsea.

The demand is leading to UK owners selling their homes and moving to outer London, creating a "champagne tower effect" with the distribution of wealth in the capital.

Savills' report, called World in London and published on Friday, says British sellers of homes in central London have outnumbered British buyers by 30pc this year, compared with 5pc in 2008. Meanwhile, foreign buyers have outnumbered foreign sellers by 58pc in 2011, up from 23pc in 2008.

The market is being boosted by the weakness of sterling and the perception of London as a safe haven amid political and economic uncertainty.

Yolande Barnes, head of residential research at Savills, said: "We anticipate that London will continue to attract overseas buyers in the foreseeable future, especially with the eyes of the world on the London Olympics next year. "The diversity of economies from which these buyers originate and of their motivations for purchase, mean that there will nearly always be an overseas market for London property for as long as London remains a major global city." » | Graham Ruddick | Saturday, June 11, 2011

My comment;

Successive British governments have been absolutely stupid to allow this to happen. This is the United Kingdom; London is our capital. Therefore, the indigenous population should be able to buy a home in these prime locations if they have the means. But by allowing all these super-rich oligarchs—many of whom are rich through ill-gotten gains—to come to London to buy upscale properties means that British people cannot compete. And this in our capital where so many British people need to live to conduct their affairs.

Why are our politicians so stupid? Why are they so craven? Why do they go weak at the knees as soon as billions are mentioned, losing all rational thought?

I have lived in Switzerland, and I know how that superior political system works. I can tell you this: The Swiss look after their own, first and foremost. Rich foreigners are welcome to buy property in Switzerland, but only in certain designated areas. All properties are not open to foreign ownership. In particular, in cities such as Zürich, where commerce is of great importance, and Swiss people have to be able to afford to live within commutable distance of their places of work, foreigners are generally disallowed from purchasing homes at all.

Why are the Swiss so sensible and considerate of their people's needs, whereas our politicians, regardless of the hue of the party, are so greedy, inconsiderate, and idiotic? – © Mark

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Detroit Family Homes Sell for Just $10
THE TELEGRAPH: Family homes in Detroit are selling for as little as $10 (£6) in the wake of America's financial meltdown.


The once thriving industrial city has suffered a dramatic decline following the global economic crisis.

According to Tim Prophit, a real estate agent, the crisis has led to a unprecedented portfolio of homes, but they are failing to sell.

He said there were homes on the market for $100 (£61), but an offer of just $10 (£6) would be likely to be accepted.

Speaking on a BBC 2 documentary, Requiem for Detroit, to be screened on Saturday, Mr Prophit said: "The property is listed by the city of Detroit as being worth $35,000 (£22,000), but the bank know that is impossible to ask.

"This part of town has got a lot of bad press in the media because it featured in Eminem's film 'Eight Mile', but that particular road is fifteen minutes up the road and that is a long way in Detroit."

Homes offered in viewing brochures as early 1920s example of colonial architecture would once have made handsome homes but are no longer sought after. >>> | Friday, March 13, 2010

Azerbaijan President's Son, 12, 'Buys £30m Worth of Luxury Dubai Property'
THE TELEGRAPH: The 12-year-old son of the Azerbaijan president has gone on a multi-million pound property spending spree, buying up a series of luxury Dubai waterfront mansions.

Heydar Aliyev, the son of Ilham Aliyev, the oil-rich country’s president, allegedly spent almost £30 million (US$44 million) on nine waterfront mansions in the southern Gulf emirate earlier this year, reports said.

The boy, who was 11 at the time, made the purchase in the Palm Jumeirah development over two weeks, the Washington Post reported on Friday.

Heydar’s name and his date of birth appeared on Dubai Land Department records, which were obtained by the paper.

The details listed on the property records were the same as those of the son of the former Soviet Republic’s president, whose annual salary is about £150,000 ($228,000).

The purchases are about the equivalent to 10,000 years' worth of salary for the average citizen of the country. >>> Andrew Hough | Friday, March 05, 2010

Britons Face Losing Savings as Dubai Property Market Collapses
THE TELEGRAPH: Britons who invested hundreds of thousands of pounds in unbuilt property during Dubai's boom years face losing the money after a collapse in the market.

Falling property prices and the credit crunch have hit Dubai's financial model hard, with work stopped on hundreds of building sites. Photo credit: The Telegraph
An 800-strong group of investors, from individuals who put deposits on holiday flats to property brokers, says hundreds of millions of pounds is at risk.

Work has slowed or stopped on swathes of building sites, including on a second "Palm Island". The city was planning a series of artificial peninsulas in the shape of palm trees packed with seafront holiday villas, but only one is finished.

Of all the world's property crashes, Dubai's has been among the most spectacular. According to an estimate from Morgan Stanley, projects worth £165 billion have been delayed or cancelled across the United Arab Emirates. Prices in Dubai have fallen by more than 40 per cent since September.

As prices soared, many investors bought off-plan, either because it was cheaper, in the case of small-time buyers looking for a home in the sun, or because they could "flip" or sell on for a quick profit without ever having to pay the full value.

Investors on the end of a chain of "flippers" have been hit particularly hard as prices fell while building was put on hold. But even those who bought from developers now face the dilemma of whether to keep paying or cut their losses. >>> By Richard Spencer in Dubai | Saturday, May 23, 2009