London house prices boosted by increased demand from Middle East buyers | Europe | News

London house prices boosted by increased demand from Middle East buyers | Europe | News

The average house price in central London now stands at £820,200 following a 2.3% increase in the first quarter of 2012 as foreign buyers push up demand, according to the latest research from CBRE.
Prolonged demand from overseas investors has maintained the upward pressure on house prices in central London, which are now 16% above their 2007 peak, the consultants said.
The performance of London’s residential market partly reflects a larger proportion of equity rich buyers who are not mortgage constrained, it added.
South East Asia continued to be the primary source of demand for new build residential in central London, but buyers from the Middle East are beginning to return. Middle Eastern buyers made up 16% of prime central London sales in the last quarter of 2011, up from 3% in the first quarter of 2011.
‘Whilst South East Asia buyers are still vital, the Middle East is increasingly becoming a source of strong and growing demand for London residential. There has been a steady flow of capital into the Middle Eastern financial centres and we anticipate that a significant proportion will end up in London residential,’ said Mark Collins, head of residential at CBRE.