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Data from Hometrack shows that Russians have been the big winners in the league table of foreign buyers who have snapped up homes in prime central London in recent years.

Hometrack says overseas buyers of PCL property saw capital values rise by 80 per cent over the last five years. The drop in the value of sterling between 2007 and 2009, combined with a 17 per cent fall in property prices, made London appear good value to overseas buyers with extremely strong demand in 2009-2010.

Changes in currencies over the same period delivered even stronger gains and Russian buyers have seen the biggest gains on the weakness in the rouble in the last six months.

However, rouble backed buyers who do not already own London property will now find it much more expensive to buy which looks set to impact demand and pricing levels with a drop in prime London prices in the last quarter of 2014 according to Richard Donnell, Hometrack's research director.

While prime London property prices have grown by 80 per cent in the last six years, changes in currencies can boost the gains for overseas buyers. This is good news for those overseas buyers who already own property but it can make London look less affordable for those who do not own housing he says.

Fluctuations in currencies together with tax changes and the threat of a mansion tax are cooling demand for prime London housing and values have started to slip back as result.

Comments

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    I thought this was already common knowledge.

    • 26 February 2015 13:57 PM
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    Quelle surprise. Rich Russian and Chinese investors have been the big winners in London's property market for a while now. There was even that BBC2 documentary the other week about all the wealthy Russians settling in London. There has been accusations of dodgy money and properties being left empty in prime areas to increase their value, but the capital seems happy to turn a blind eye to this for the time being.

    Obviously the big money they bring in should benefit the economy, but quite how much it does is very much open to debate.

    • 26 February 2015 13:48 PM
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    The Russians are coming! Or maybe not anymore, April's CGT changes will be interesting...

    • 26 February 2015 11:28 AM
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