The coronavirus pandemic has significantly altered the global property sales landscape, with Chinese buyers reaching record highs in London's prime residential markets. According to real estate firm Hampton International, while the number of top-priced homes in the British capital purchased by foreigners fell by 31 TP3T year-on-year in the second half of 2019, the share of Chinese buyers surged to a record 1 TP3T6 of total sales in prime residential areas. (China Real Estate)
Chinese and the decline in real estate
Rory Scasbrick of Property Vision says that Chinese buyers were attracted by the advantages of the currency and the low price, but many banks and law firms in China are currently closed and under quarantine, and no one will be traveling to view properties in Britain.
George Schmeil, CEO of JwayIQI, a company specializing in helping Chinese buyers invest abroad, said: »For Chinese and other investments in UK property, the emergence of the virus is certainly causing disruption. Sales by property companies that mostly market their projects off-plan at exhibitions in China and Hong Kong before selling to British buyers are the most vulnerable to the negative effects of reduced Chinese demand.«
Freezing transactions in the markets
"Hong Kong was teeming with clients and developers when I was there in November, and I think their plans have been disrupted," said Scasbrick. "There will be few transactions taking place while the virus continues to spread. In some markets, we have seen Chinese buyers putting their transactions on hold." Simon Parry of Harrods believes that while off-plan sales have been delayed, this will not affect the overall picture of a project that still has three or four years to complete.
Online shopping boom
If the virus persists for a year, we will see significant problems in the global market due to disruptions in safe travel, while online shopping will increase. In this regard, statistics indicate that visits to the website of JwayiQi.com surged in January, with Chinese buyers searching for properties abroad. This is especially true given that people are spending more time at home, encouraging them to go online, search for properties, and make inquiries.
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