Foreigners buy half of London's best homes

[LONDON] People living outside the UK have accounted for about half of all new home purchases in London's best neighbourhoods as affluent investors sought a safe haven from turmoil in the Middle East and Europe's debt crisis.

Foreign-born buyers, including those living in the UK, made 69 per cent of new-home purchases in London's prime areas in the two years through June, while those living abroad bought 49 per cent of the homes, Knight Frank said in a report on Tuesday. About 28 per cent of those who bought central London homes worth £1 million (S$1.9 milli…