London to 'remain leading global wealth center' in 2019

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Europe

05:14

Knight Frank, a global property consultancy, has just released its 2019 Wealth Report, which says that whether it's a hard Brexit, no Brexit or Brexit-lite, London will remain the leading global wealth center in 2019.

As the report shows, the transactions of residential property fell last year. Property prices in London will be in the buyers' favor, thanks to that slow pace, according to Lord Andrew Hay, global head of the residential division at Knight Frank.

But the inquiries, combing from domestic and overseas, were up 28 percent year on year, Hay said. "And strong demand is waiting for taking up."

Lord Andrew Hay, global head of the residential division at Knight Frank. /CGTN screenshot

And he noted that the commercial property market in London remains attractive. The report said that London saw "greater volumes of commercial property investment than any other global city in 2018, with transactions worth over 16 billion euros (around 18 billion U.S. dollars)."

"And global corporates are still very much into London. We have seen Google, Facebook and Apple all move in. It seems to signal a huge corporate confidence," the executive added.

Meanwhile, Hay expected investors to add exposure to education facilities, student housing and "last mile" logistics property, as well as offices in key tech and innovation markets.

He said that real estate investors tend to make the property "the place of inspiration, not just a standard space. You are seeing a whole increasingly intelligent using of these buildings."

There are constant headlines about the British economy suffering from the Brexit paralysis. Hay said that Knight Frank would continue to expand investment cautiously and remained very optimistic about mid-term prospects.