London property values benefit from Euro zone crisis

This report comes after an article in the Financial Times reported that, because of the election of the Socialist candidate as President of France, the wealthy French were contemplating moves to the UK. If the Socialist Obama is re-elected, where will our job creators go? Many have already moved out of NY and California to the South. That won't help them if Obama and the Democrats have their way on the Federal level. 


Excerpt: The number of Europeans buying property in London has grown steadily over the last year as the euro zone debt crisis has worsened but numbers spiked ahead of elections in Greece last weekend that failed to produce a government. 


"What we're seeing is another stage in the euro zone crisis gathering pace," said Liam Bailey, head of residential research at property agent Knight Frank. "It's ironic that the more instability you get in the euro zone the more the London property market benefits.


" Savills data showed Spanish buyers grew 14 percent in April compared with the same six-month period and Knight Frank registered a 21 percent jump. Searches from Portugal last month were 153 percent up on April 2011 while Italian traffic jumped 46 percent, Knight Frank said. 


Growing interest from Greece in the last three weeks has been buoyed by buyers looking to rent out property as an investment, said Noel de Keyzer from Savills. 


"There seems to be an endless flow of wealthy Greek buyers, old Greek family money, coming to London both renting and buying."


In addition to countries afflicted by the euro zone crisis, the best London homes have attracted growing interest from Russia, the Middle East and Far East as buyers attempt to protect their assets amid the gyrations of the money markets. 

Read full Reuters report here.