UK Property Lures Middle-East Buyers on Pound Brexit Slump – Bloomberg

The weak pound following Brexit has attracted more middle eastern buyers to buy property in the UK in the fourth quarter of 2016. Rising oil prices and favourable exchange rate means buyers from the middle east are getting more from their money than ever. This bucks the trend of overseas buyers from every other region, which has seen less buying activity. Middle eastern buyers made up 24% of all overseas property purchases for the period.

Key Takeaways:

  • Middle Eastern buyers, benefiting from a weak pound and rising oil prices, are buying UK property in high numbers.
  • This is despite activity having decreased in every other region of the world.
  • Investors from the Middle East region accounted for 24 percent of all overseas acquisitions in the fourth quarter compared with 10 percent a year earlier.

““We have seen a really significant increase from our Middle Eastern clients in their appetite for London,” Stephen Clifton, head of central London at broker Knight Frank LLP, said in an interview. “There are two key reasons for that: currency and stability.””

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-02-05/pound-s-slump-on-brexit-tempts-middle-eastern-property-buyers