kdsingh80 Posted July 8, 2011 Report Share Posted July 8, 2011 Owning a house in London's Mayfair is the latest status symbol for India's nouveau riche Sudeshna Sen, ET Bureau Jul 7, 2011, 09.03pm IST Tags: St John's Wood|Recession LONDON: In St John's Wood, a district in north-west London that is a favourite nesting ground for bankers from all over the world, a premium housing project suddenly found itself making distress sales after the recession. They sold one flat to an Indian. "And then another, and another, and now about two-thirds of this building are owned by Indians," says Mark Pollack, managing director of Aston Chase, a property consultant specialising in north London. They're coming from Mumbai, Delhi and a bit from Bangalore, and though still a trickle, even tier-2 cities like Ludhiana and Chandigarh. Ads by Google India free classifieds Buy and sell, it's 100% free: Apartments, jobs, cars, anything! www.olx.in Earn money from home Only platform to offer Indian CFD's CFD's of RIL, ADAG, TATA, Jindal ForexControl.com They're swarming all over Knightsbridge and Chelsea with budgets as modest as £500,000 all the way up to £20 million. London's prime property market, which has overseas buyers-mostly Russians, East Europeans and from the Middle-East-pouring in over £3.3 billion annually, is now sitting up to take notice of this new breed of Indian buyers in the mid-level segment. These are mostly young, small businessmen and entrepreneurs, and upper middle class parents of kids studying in London acquiring their first overseas property. Astudy by top-end property consultant Savills estimates that Indians have now grown to make up 4% of buyers in prime central London, 6% by value, and have an up to 9% share in the £5-15 million range, with an average spend of £3.5 million. Not many Billionaires A home in Mayfair, it seems, is now a must-have status symbol for India's nouveau riche, as well as a viable investment avenue. Says Camilla Dell, managing partner of Black Brick Property Solutions, London's largest independent buying agency: "We've seen a significant shift in the past two years, more people want to buy. When people become wealthy, they like to own overseas property –and a home in London is seen as a trophy asset." Black Brick has done £25 million in deals last year, starting from £500,000, though Dell says demand usually goes from £4 million up to £20 million. Nothing's changed at the ultra-premium—over £15 million— segment. Says Andrew Langton, managing director of Aylesford International: "There have been a few high-profile deals, and I'd say the top 100 richest Indian families have already built up their overseas property portfolio." Owning a house in London's Mayfair is the latest status symbol for India's nouveau riche Sudeshna Sen, ET Bureau Jul 7, 2011, 09.03pm IST Tags: St John's Wood|Recession Not enough billionaires, but plenty of millionaires. The action has moved down the value chain, to the wannabe rich listers. Yolanda Barnes, head of research at Savills points out that, "Indians are an often neglected but important cohort of buyers, especially in the £5-15 million range. Out of the emerging nations, they're more important than the Chinese. " The Chinese haven't quite arrived in London yet, sticking to East London and Canary Wharf with relatively low-ticket investments. While most Indians refuse to look beyond Mayfair, Chelsea, Belgravia, Kensington—prime central London—there is some drift to other areas as well, where there are established Indian communities. Ads by Google Sell Your Gold and Buy... This precious metal, that we expect to outperform gold. Free Report. WealthDaily.com/Gold_Stocks India free classifieds Buy and sell, it's 100% free: Apartments, jobs, cars, anything! www.olx.in Pollack of Aston Chase, which works in the Hampstead and St John's Wood area and has done high-profile super-premium deals in the past, says they are recently doing a lot of business in the £2-5 million range, and his clientele is "unarguably younger". Rajan Shori of law firm Manches says his firm started the property advisory practice simply as an add-on service for Indian clients, and its success has taken them by surprise. "We're increasingly doing business and getting queries from places like Ludhiana and Chandigarh—we've done stuff at £600,000; at the lower end too. We had no idea there was so much demand from middle class buyers." Almost universally, the buyers are businesses or entrepreneurs— professionals have yet to show up on the radar. A key factor contributing to this could be that all such deals have to use a corporate structure for acquisition, using an offshore company, given the amounts being remitted. So what's drawing the new-breed of Indian investors? Besides the show-off factor, there are longterm fundamentals. According to Dell, a majority of buyers are from the real estate sector, or those who have experience in real estate, and given all the turmoil feel more confident with "brick and mortar" investments. Then there's the convenience factor—like for many Bollywood stars or business people who spend a lot of time in Europe, a home base is useful. Owning a house in London's Mayfair is the latest status symbol for India's nouveau riche Sudeshna Sen, ET Bureau Jul 7, 2011, 09.03pm IST Tags: St John's Wood|Recession Then, of course, there are those who are buying for their kids studying in London. Add in the sterling that has dropped by 20% in the past few years, and the cost of borrowing at a paltry 2-3%, and aLondon home looks increasingly attractive. You can get a decent flat in Belgravia or a 3-bed overlooking Regents Park for less than Rs 20 crore, compared with the overheated markets in Mumbai or Delhi. "In any country not affected by the financial crisis, real estate in London looks like a relatively cheap compared to earlier," says Barnes. Ads by Google London Hostels from €4 Cool Hostels in London, 4€. Easy Booking Online Now! m.hostelsclub.com/London Besides wanting to be in central London, Indians almost invariably want apartments, preferably with concierges and porters, since the flats are likely to be left empty most of the year. Gardens haven't yet become popular with the usually urban buyer profile. Some want flashy, some prefer more period buildings, but if it's not in Mayfair, then the tendency is to congregate in areas where they have friends and family. Neither have India's newly wealthy graduated to slightly more exotic status symbols like country homes, or villas in Tuscany or Corfu. http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2011-07-07/news/29747763_1_savills-prime-property-market-london-s-mayfair/3 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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