London attracted a massive $16.8bn of cross-border investment between January and August this year, up by 34% on the same period last year.
Research by Real Capital Analytics reveals that despite fears around Brexit uncertainty, overseas investment into London in the first eight months of 2017 was nearly $10bn more than into New York, and Hong Kong, which saw investment volumes of $6.6bn and $5.9bn respectively. Madrid and Frankfurt also saw investment boosts, with levels increasing fourfold on 2016.
In London, deals including CC Land’s $1.5bn purchase of the Cheesegrater and Lee Kum Kee’s $1.7bn Walkie Talkie deal, both EC3, bolstered the influx of cash to the UK capital.
Graham Shone, EG’s UK senior analyst, says: “Global demand for London offices has been heavily underlined this year by the purchases of the Cheese-grater, EC3, and the Walkie Talkie, EC3, by foreign investors for more than £1bn each.”
Tom Leahy, senior director at Real Capital Analytics says: “London is still the number one recipient of cross-border capital flows globally, and investment volumes exceed those in second- and third-placed Hong Kong and New York combined.
“This is despite concerns over the long-term future of the financial services industry after the UK leaves the EU and current short-term political instability. In fact, the weaker pound has enticed investors, especially from Hong Kong, who were not active in the market pre-June 2016, to invest in the city in a major way.
He adds: “The presence of six European cities in the top 10 markets shows that European real estate continues to attract capital from around the world, as buyers from North America and Asia compete with domestic and other European players for investment opportunities.”
