Royal residences are receiving renewed life from Far East investors. The South China Morning Post spoke with brokers about the growing interest in European castle properties. So far this year, British-based broker Barrasford and Bird Worldwide has sold 19 castles to Chinese buyers. Robin Barrasford, managing director of the British broker, said: “We didn’t approach the [Chinese buyers] – they reached out to us. I hadn’t even thought the Chinese would want a castle in France or Scotland, which is amazing as no one from China bought [castles] last year.”
Alex Chehansky, a consultant at Lauren Berger Collection, a New York-based agency offering luxury accommodation and holiday rentals services, said there was increasing interest from Chinese investors in buying castles and other high-end properties in European countries such as Britain, France, Switzerland and Italy. “They [Chinese investors] want uniqueness,” he said. “A castle is a large property with a lot of history and many people are interested in ‘investments so they can enjoy it,” he said. An investment in a castle provided not only capital gains but also operating returns from rental, Chehansky said, adding that the resale value of castles was good because they were unique properties
One businessman in the market for a castle property told the publication that due to Europe’s popularity with mainland Chinese he plans to “use my castle as a private club for my clients.” [South China Morning Post]