海外富豪不再青睞倫敦豪宅
Asian and Russian homebuyers who once made up a third of those buying property in London’s wealthiest areas have largely deserted the market this year as emerging market currencies plunged against sterling.
曾經佔倫敦最富裕地區三分之一購房者的亞洲和俄羅斯買家今年基本上放棄了這一市場，原因包括新興市場貨幣兌英鎊匯率大幅下挫。
Properties in boroughs such as Kensington, where the average home price is 1.5m, were a sought-after asset among wealthy buyers seeking an investment in a global, politically stable city.
房屋均價在150萬英鎊的肯辛頓(Kensington)等區的房產，曾經是尋求在政治穩定的全球城市置業的富裕買家們追捧的資產。
But that has changed in 2015, in a shift that estate agents said was partly down to turmoil in emerging markets and partly to sweeping changes to stamp duty, increasing the rate for those buying homes worth more than 937,000 This includes rates of 10 per cent on the portion of the sale price above 925,000 and 12 per cent on the part above 1.5m.
但這種情形在2015年發生了改變。房產經紀稱，這種轉變部分源自新興市場的動盪，還有一部分原因在於英國印花稅的大幅度改革——提高買價超過93.7萬英鎊的房產的稅率。售價介於92.5萬至150萬英鎊之間的部分執行10%的稅率，超過150萬英鎊的部分按12%繳納印花稅。
Asians made up 26 per cent of those buying homes in areas such as Kensington, Chelsea and Belgravia in the first three-quarters of last year, but that fell to 6 per cent in the same period of 2015, according to figures compiled exclusively for the Financial Times by Hamptons, a high-end estate agent. Chinese buyers were down from 9 per cent of the total to 3 per cent and Russians were down from 7 per cent to 1 per cent.
高端房產經紀公司漢普頓斯(Hamptons)專門爲英國《金融時報》彙編的數據顯示，去年前三季度，在肯辛頓、切爾西(Chelsea)以及貝爾格拉維亞(Belgravia)等高檔區購房的人羣中，亞洲買家佔26%，而這一比例在2015年同期下降至6%。中國買家的比例從9%下降至3%，俄羅斯買家從7%降至1%。
The fall has coincided with a period of turbulence in Chinese equity markets, which spread to other Asian emerging markets, prompting falls in the region’s currencies against sterling. China’s renminbi is down 6.6 per cent since April.
購房人數的減少正值中國股市動盪時期，此輪股市暴跌還蔓延至其他亞洲新興市場，導致該地區貨幣兌英鎊匯率出現下挫。自今年4月以來，人民幣匯率已下跌6.6%。
In Russia, the war in Ukraine and international sanctions, together with lower oil prices, have taken a big toll on the country’s economy. The rouble has shed 25 per cent against sterling since April and is down 53 per cent over the past two years.
在俄羅斯，烏克蘭戰爭、國際制裁以及油價下跌對該國經濟造成了巨大破壞。自4月以來，盧布兌英鎊匯率已下跌25%，過去兩年間累計下跌了53%。
Transactions in prime London boroughs were down 19 per cent in the first three-quarters of 2015 against a year earlier, according to LonRes research.
研究公司LonRes提供的數據顯示，2015年前三季度，倫敦高檔區的房產交易量同比下降了19%。
