倫敦鬧市期房一半賣給亞洲人大綱

If you've just moved into a newly built apartment in central London, don't be perplexed if your neighbors speak mostly Chinese. Battersea Power Station Development Company
如果你剛搬進倫敦市中心一幢新公寓大樓，發現鄰居大多講中文，請不要驚訝。

Market-cooling measures in Asia have helped fuel interest in London's real estate market--long a popular destination for property buyers on the prowl, says property consultancy Knight Frank. Last year, overseas buyers spent $3.5 billion on apartments undergoing construction in central London, up 22% from the year earlier.
房地產諮詢機構萊坊(Knight Frank)說，倫敦很久以來就受到伺機買房者的追捧，而亞洲的樓市降溫舉措幫助推升了人們對倫敦市場的興趣。去年，海外購房者爲購買倫敦市中心的在建公寓投入35億美元，較上年同期增加22%。

Together, buyers from Singapore and Hong Kong snapped up nearly 40% of all such apartments in central London. Adding in buyers from Malaysia and mainland China, Asian buyers accounted for roughly half of all purchases. By comparison, U.K. buyers made up just 27% of all purchases of apartments under construction, according to Knight Frank's latest figures. Such figures were generally consistent with those seen in 2011. 接近40%的倫敦市中心在建公寓都賣給了新加坡和香港的買家。如果再算上馬來西亞和中國內地的買家，亞洲買家購買量約佔一半。萊坊的最新數據顯示，英國本土買家只佔到27%。這些數字與2011年大體一致。
Among overseas buyers, more than two-thirds bought for investment purposes, says Knight Frank, while another third said they were motivated to buy for a child enrolled at a local university.

萊坊說，海外買家中有超過三分之二是出於投資目的，另外三分之一的人說，他們買房是爲了給留學英國的孩子住。
The implementation of cooling measures across parts of Asia in recent years may have encouraged buyers to spend more in London, as cities from Beijing to Hong Kong have slapped extra taxes and restrictions on short-term speculators and those seeking to buy additional properties. Such measures have 'acted as a spur for many potential investors to look at overseas markets,' says Nicholas Holt, Asia-Pacific research director.

亞洲部分國家和地區近幾年實施的樓市降溫措施，可能是買房人把更多資金投往倫敦的一個原因。從北京到香港，很多城市都針對短期炒房者和希望購買多套房的人採取了加稅、限購措施。萊坊亞太研究負責人霍爾特(Nicholas Holt)說，這類舉措刺激很多潛在投資者把目光投向了海外市場。
The developer of London's Battersea Power Station residential complex says it is making a deliberate attempt to ensure that buyers of the first wave of its apartments--which went on sale this month--will be a balanced mix of locals and expatriates. 'We want as many as we can,' says Battersea Power Station Development Company CEO Rob Ticknell of U.K. buyers, saying that the company is adjusting its sale strategy to try and obtain the right combination of residents. Out of the 800 apartments for sale, 600 have already been sold, he says--about half those to U.K. buyers--with construction to begin in the second half of 2013.

倫敦住宅綜合體“Battersea Power Station”的首期公寓本月上市。其開發商說，它將有意識地在首期買房人當中實現英國人與外國人的均衡。開發商Battersea Power Station Development Company的CEO蒂克奈爾(Rob Ticknell)說，我們希望英國買家越多越好。他說，公司正在調整銷售策略，以實現住戶的合理搭配。他說，800套公寓已有600套賣出，其中一半左右被英國人買下。這些公寓將在2013年下半年開始建設。
Recently Mr. Ticknell has been touring various cities in Asia to promote sales of the development. Over the course of a three-day exhibition in Singapore this month, some 1,000 people showed up, he says. The company is organizing a similar exhibition in Hong Kong this weekend, and expects the remaining apartments will be sold off soon.

爲推銷這個樓盤，蒂克奈爾最近巡訪亞洲多座城市。他說，這個月公司在新加坡舉行了爲期三天的展銷，期間約有1,000人前來。該公司將於這個週末在香港舉辦一次類似的展銷活動，據它預計，剩餘公寓將很快賣光。
When it comes to Hong Kong buyers in particular, Mr. Ticknell says, it isn't surprising that they gravitate so strongly toward London. 'The fact that our legal system is the same makes a huge difference,' he says of the former British colony. 'The connection between London and Hong Kong is very close.'

蒂克奈爾說，亞洲人如此嚴重地傾向於倫敦並不奇怪，香港人尤其如此。他說，香港作爲前英殖民地擁有同英國一樣的司法制度，這一點有着很大的意義。他說，倫敦和香港的聯繫非常密切。