Overseas buyers active in Central London - does this mean you should be buying in Clapham too?

I came across this article the other day: Huge spike in Chinese property investors' interest in the UK post-Brexit. I think without clicking on the link you can get the jist of it. In essence the drop in value of the GBP has made property in London 10% cheaper overnight. Before the Brexit results 1 GBP bought you 9.8CNY. Today that same pound is only worth 8.8CNY. A nice discount if your money is in China and you happen to be in the market for a flat in the UK/London.

As I predicted in my previous articles, the weaker pound has indeed sparked mass interest from overseas. This is great news! Normally whatever happens in (Prime) Central London will have a ripple effect on the rest of the capital, so you can see more activity in zones 2, 3 and beyond in the next few months. People keep asking me whether Brexit has been detrimental to the market and truth be told it may have been, but combine it with other factors like the summer holidays (it's normally very quiet in the sales market this time of year) and the effects have been minimal if any. Once everyone comes back from summer holidays I trust it will be business as usual, with a stronger comeback due to increased numbers of foreign buyers.

I foresee that with £millions of foreign investment we will end the financial year on some significant capital appreciation. If you are after an investment property it probably is a good time to capitalise on seller's willingness to "do a deal" in order to move on as opposed to wager with uncertainty. Sadly for UK buyers their pound doesn't necessarily stretch 10% further, but nonetheless I do feel that now is a good time to buy - there are sellers out there looking to sell, summer holidays or not.

I've had a number of clients ask me as to whether they should hold off buying, and my answer has always been a resounding "no." Now is the time to buy, whether you're looking to add value or simply hold and rent it - rents are set to go up over the next few years, so if you are able to secure a good property at a good price this will pay dividends. If you are looking to sell on, the first time buyer market is still doing very well. Cater to that market and you cannot fail.

If you are looking to expand your portfolio or get into property investing, be it full time to replace your income or you just have some spare money to invest and you want to do this as a worthwhile investment strategy instead of getting 1% interest in the bank then reach out to me on jeroen@claphampropertyblog.com and let me tell you how to make the most from your assets.