American centi-millionaires and billionaires are snapping up London super-prime property, with a quarter of £20 million plus homes in the capital being purchased by buyers from the States, a new survey by Beauchamp Estates revealed.
The wealth survey by the luxury estate agent underscored the growing international interest in London’s luxury real estate market and shed light on shifting buyer demographics in the capital against a backdrop of geopolitical upheaval.
There was a 36 per cent surge in American and Middle Eastern buyers of ultra-exclusive London homes this year, Beauchamp Estates’ survey found. UHNWs from the US made up the largest group buying London properties priced above £20 million, accounting for 25 per cent of all super-prime property sales in the UK capital. Close behind are ultra-high-net-worth individuals from the Middle East, making up 20 per cent of these high-end transactions.
Paul Finch, the director and head of new homes at the firm, said that between January and September 2024, American purchasers accounted for 25 per cent of all £20 million-plus sales, up from 18 per cent, while buyers from the Gulf region made up 20 per cent of such sales, rising from 18 per cent.
Top-end sales to British, European and South-Asian billionaires decline in 2024
The Beauchamp Estates survey found that except for buyers from China and Hong Kong – who increased purchases by 2 per cent – billionaires from other regions have bought fewer super-prime houses in London this year, compared to 2023. According to the report, the proportion of £20 million-plus sales to British UHNWs fell from 12 to 10 per cent, with similar trends for super-rich purchasers from Eastern Europe (13 to 8 per cent), Western Europe (6 to 5 per cent) as well as India and South Asia (23 to 20 per cent).
On the other hand, three countries in the Middle East have seen their rich and famous dominate London’s super-prime buyer marketplace. The survey found that of all property deals with Gulf billionaires in 2024, 30 per cent were signed by Emiratis, another 30 per cent by Saudis, and 10 per cent by Qataris.
What are the top London addresses for American and Middle Eastern super-rich?
It is no surprise that the high-end districts of West and central London are the most popular with American super-prime property buyers. When it comes to American expat families, the top spots tend to be in Chelsea, around the American school in St John’s Wood, or in Notting Hill, where UHNWs usually purchase ‘large family houses or family apartments, ideally new build or newly refurbished’, Beauchamp Estates claims in the survey.
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For US billionaires, the most popular addresses are ‘mansions, lavish pied-a-terres or penthouses in Belgravia, Mayfair, St James’s or Regent’s Park,’ the report says.
Middle-Eastern buyers usually prefer living ‘close to the green acres of Hyde Park’, says Finch, as they mostly buy super-prime property in Mayfair, Belgravia, Knightsbridge and the Hyde Park estate. The survey also found that Gulf billionaires like to live ‘within walking distance of seven key retail streets in London which are extremely popular social hubs for Middle East residents and visitors.’ These include Mount Street and Duke Street in Mayfair; Edgware Road by the Hyde Park Estate; Motcomb Street and Elizabeth Street in Belgravia and Basil Street and Brompton Road in Knightsbridge.
‘These seven locations are where residents from the Middle East come to visit the local coffee bars, cafes and food delis and to meet, relax and socialise,’ Finch says.
Trump administration to increase UK house sales to wealthy American expats
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The current top-end London property trends are likely to continue in the coming years, the survey found, especially in the wake of Donald Trump’s re-election to the White House.
Finch anticipates that ‘over the next four years, the wave of American buyers into Europe looks set to increase further’. He said ‘last time Donald Trump was in power we saw a significant 20 per cent upturn in wealthy Democrats buying £15 million-plus homes in London […] to live out the first Trump administration.’
