海外富豪不再青睐伦敦豪宅
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.
曾经占伦敦最富裕地区三分之一购房者的亚洲和俄罗斯买家今年基本上放弃了这一市场，原因包括新兴市场货币兑英镑汇率大幅下挫。
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.
房屋均价在150万英镑的肯辛顿(Kensington)等区的房产，曾经是寻求在政治稳定的全球城市置业的富裕买家们追捧的资产。
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.
但这种情形在2015年发生了改变。房产经纪称，这种转变部分源自新兴市场的动荡，还有一部分原因在于英国印花税的大幅度改革——提高买价超过93.7万英镑的房产的税率。售价介于92.5万至150万英镑之间的部分执行10%的税率，超过150万英镑的部分按12%缴纳印花税。
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.
高端房产经纪公司汉普顿斯(Hamptons)专门为英国《金融时报》汇编的数据显示，去年前三季度，在肯辛顿、切尔西(Chelsea)以及贝尔格拉维亚(Belgravia)等高档区购房的人群中，亚洲买家占26%，而这一比例在2015年同期下降至6%。中国买家的比例从9%下降至3%，俄罗斯买家从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.
购房人数的减少正值中国股市动荡时期，此轮股市暴跌还蔓延至其他亚洲新兴市场，导致该地区货币兑英镑汇率出现下挫。自今年4月以来，人民币汇率已下跌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.
在俄罗斯，乌克兰战争、国际制裁以及油价下跌对该国经济造成了巨大破坏。自4月以来，卢布兑英镑汇率已下跌25%，过去两年间累计下跌了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提供的数据显示，2015年前三季度，伦敦高档区的房产交易量同比下降了19%。
