London the safe haven

[dulwichgirl2]

Why do eurozone buyers keep bumping up london property prices and how long can this latest bubble last?! Different countries seem to be joining the list each week. The problem is that once things are eventually sorted out, these buyers will depart and all their investment leave the matket suddenly; it is fickle money. Then WE make the losses!

[hedges]

They won't flood out of the market though- they will often let out their properties.Preferring the security of uk based property.Just in case.

[Mick Mac]

I'm not sure there are many Eurozone buyers in ED. Whilst there may be a bit of ripple down effect, the rising house prices in ED has to explained by other factors.

[Annette Curtain]

In comparison to other nice areas like wandsworth-balham-clapham it's relatively cheaper

No tube but improved links to the city

It's all moving eastward as it were

IMHO anyway

Netts

[Jeremy]

Yep, it is definitely cheaper than comparable SW London areas - Wandsworth, Balham, Putney, Clapham, Wimbledon, etc. Even places like Earlsfield and Wandsworth Town are probably more expensive, and ED is much, much nicer IMO.

[Mick Mac]

Its significantly cheaper than pretty much anywhere with an SW postcode. The SW/SE postcode border is a big one for property prices.

Aside from that the original point about Euro buyers prob has little effect here. Russian oligarchs would never live with the shame of an SE postcode.

[Chillaxed]

I think, like me, most ED buyers can't find what they want in SW for their budget, and end up here. By 'end up' I mean, in my case, 'very happily chance upon' ED, as I think it's great.

[Jeremy]

Mick Mac Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Its significantly cheaper than pretty much

> anywhere with an SW postcode.

A bit of an exaggeration perhaps! But even so, I can't think of anywhere as 'nice' as ED anywhere in zone 2/3 which is more affordable.

[dulwichgirl2]

I must disagree. It is all to do with foreign money bumping up k and c which moves most of the old British money into Fulham, battersea and nicer bits of clapham. Then overspill to herne hill and here, largely owing to the good private schools which advertise the area to sw dwellers regardless of whether they end up sending their children to dc or jags.

Four bed, loft done, side return not done - Fulham or Wandsworth (sw17 not sw18) - go for an eye watering 1.2mm. People sell and move here with the proceeds.

But it will all unwind at some point.

[dulwichgirl2]

Hedges, surely once the crisis is over, they will repatriate their money. Alternatively any more of that rioting nonsense in Britain and they will move their investment to the USA.

Noone can say that ed, the bastion of middle middle class families is doing well owing to prosperity in that group. It above all other socio groups has been hammered by this recession. The house price rises are nothing to do with the uk and are in spite of the dire position of many in ED.

[Jeremy]

It's just pure speculation dg2. London prices have been shooting up for the last 15 years or so, with little or no letup. Where's the evidence to suggest that recent growth is due to investors from the euro zone?

[Loz]

Over in West London, the presence of a small number of Arab/Islamic schools has bought an amazing amount of Middle Eastern cash into the property market. Prices around the King Fayed Academy in Acton especially are just stupid.

[axster]

@ dulwichgirl2

I think you're grossly over-simplifying and generalising relatively small correlating influences and equating these with causation.

There is a (small) influence of well-to-dos from crisis hit EU countries buying properties in London and it probably has a small effect on property prices, it certainly is not the overriding cause of house price hikes in ED.

It's a little more complex than that.....

[dulwichgirl2]

Axster, what is causing it then? Certainly not the booming uk economy.

There are any number of studies showing that panicked eurozone and middle eastern money has ramped up prices in K and C massively. A game of chicken has developed with the few old money Brits still living there as they watch already valuable property going for up to 1.5 times what it was worth a few months ago. Their dilemma is when to cash out ie how much longer and deeper the crisis will be. THey then move to, inter alia, Fulham, battersea or clapham. (not nhg as it is now too dear for them and full of foreign and banker money itself.) Battersea has gone mad and 700 sf two bed cottages (sorry bijou townhouses) in sw6 go for 700k. You cannot swing a cat in them but they do have outside space big enough for a chair and a newspaper.

We are eventually getting that overspill as I described, partly owing to the virtuous circle that has developed as the area has improved. If anyone thinks it is all about British buyers though I would be interested to hear the reasoning.

London prime and gold are doing v well out of this crisis, though not as well as jimmy Carr. I was astonished to learn he earns that sort of money, even without the tax issue.

[El Pibe]

Voiceovers, that's where the money's at.

I gather that it's the new-comedy-is-the-new-rock-and-roll that is driving up London house prices and that of Scottish forests.

When will this madness end, especially as they're all so dull, I mean Michael McIntyre is richer than the Queen!!!!

[womanofdulwich]

If your pension statement says your pension is worth 10% less this year that last year, despite you increasing the size of it by 5%- then investing in property is a good long term bet. There are of course risks, but medium to long term it is a winner.

[Saila]

... And even more pressure upwards when the BoE accepts the only way out of this mess is to print money. Bailing out all those huge mortgages and pushing up prices further still.

Lesson? Get a load more debt and keep buying!

[dulwichgirl2]

I am afraid that is the lesson, Saila, but what an ill conceived and short term plan it is. Meanwhile the "wise virgins" lose out by doing the right thing, once again.... Rewarding property risk taking is wrong and encourages the belief that "work" (dear god imagine that!) is a stupid and slow way to make money.

[dulwichgirl2]

I spoke today to a friend in banking whose view was that the inflows of cash into prime property would not reverse ever. Not sure that I agree. Once things stabilise you no longer need your wealth tied up in a safe but low yielding asset, surely?