Brexit's Trump card: Sterling slump means rich US buyers flock to London

A high-end estate agency is reporting a dramatic rise in the number of US buyers in London as they have taken advantage of the slump in the pound thanks to Brexit. 

US buyers have surged to second place in Knight Frank’s league table of international buyers in London, spending an average of £7.3m ($9.3m) each.

Analysis of purchaser data going back a decade in the prime central London residential market confirms that on average US buyers comprised the fifth largest source of international demand. 

Their market share declined to a low of seventh place in 2014. 

However, more recently a combination of rising global investment interest from rich US buyers and the weak pound following the Brexit vote have propelled American buyers up the rankings – hitting fourth place in 2018 and second place in 2019 to date, behind Chinese buyers.

As their share of the prime London market has surged, so too has their spending power, from an average £5m ($6.3m) spend over the past decade to £7.3m ($9.3m) in 2019 so far.

This makes the US buyer the fifth highest major spender behind Russians (£9.1m), Germans (£9.6m), Turkish (£10.8m) and those from Saudi Arabia (£13.4m), as London falls prey once again to large numbers of international purchasers.

The agency says the parts of central London most sought-after by US buyers are firstly Marylebone, then Mayfair, followed by Chelsea, Islington and Belgravia.

Largest foreign buyers in Prime Central London so far in 2019: 

China                9.4%

United States    6.0%

India                 4.7%

Russia              4.0%

Hong Kong       4.0%

UAE                 3.4%

Italy                  2.7%

Saudi Arabia     2.0%

Singapore         1.3%

Germany           1.3%