Eighteen months after the UK’s EU membership referendum took place, interest in British property from Chinese buyers is as strong as ever.
According to international property portal Juwai.com, the number of buying enquiries from potential Chinese investors is still 43.2% higher than it was in June 2016.
The weak pound is a primary driver of increased demand. As a result, the site is expecting interest from Chinese investors to remain at a similar level in 2018.
“Chinese property buyers made 43% more buying inquiries for UK property than they did in the second quarter of 2016, the period that encompassed the referendum,” said Carrie Law, CEO of Juwai.com. “At the time of the referendum, we said that the plummeting British pound would be a primary driver of Chinese property investment in the UK. The lightweight pound is still a key motivator of Chinese investment. Chinese buyers now find that – due to the low sterling – they can buy UK property for about 10% less.
Likewise, Chinese buyer demand for residential property in Greece and New Zealand is on the rise, too.
Chinese buying enquiries into the Greek property market during the third quarter of 2017 went up by 158.5%, compared to the same period in the previous year, due to the number of foreclosure auctions that have recently been put online.
Meanwhile, New Zealand is also seeing an increase in Chinese buyers, as investors rush to purchase property before the foreign buyer ban comes into effect early next year.
