Italians Becoming Major Players in London Luxury Real Estate Market. The face of London luxury real estate buyers is changing, according to the most recent statistics on overseas investor.  A London-based property firm reports that Italians are now the largest group of foreign investors in the London luxury real estate market, surpassing the previous top buyer, Russian investors.

Italian purchases surge

The property firm reports that Italian investors represented more than 7.3 percent of the sale of London luxury real estate properties in the first two months of 2012. That’s an increase in transactions involving Italian investors of slightly more than 2 percent during the same time in 2010. Russian investors, meanwhile, made slightly fewer purchases of London luxury real estate properties, with 7.2 percent of all transactions. Greek investors, many of whom are still reeling from the financial blow of their country, made approximately 3 percent of all purchases of London luxury real estate.

Top areas surveyed

The property firm capped the level of homes sales in the survey at those that cost £3.7 million or more and focused their survey on the most expensive real estate areas in London, which included Notting Hill, Knightsbridge and Belgravia.

The surge in London luxury real estate purchases by Italians come even as the price of luxury properties inched upward by 0.7 percent. Prices in 2012 overall have jumped by more than 11.5 percent. The volume of sales has also risen this year by more than 80 percent. The reasons behind the surge, say the experts, is the decrease in the value of the pound coupled with the rise in the wealth of other countries around the globe. Indeed, the price of London luxury real estate has jumped by more than 40 percent since 2009, with more than 245,000 homes in the nation valued at more than £1million. Another 73,000 homes are estimated to sell for £2 million or more ask our experts at compare the financial markets to source a good property investment for you today.