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Footballers climbing the property league
According to research published recently by Country Life magazine, professional footballers rank among the biggest purchasers of country houses costing more than £2m. The research showed that during the past two decades a new breed of wealthy self-made entrepreneurs have changed the profile of people looking to buy statement homes.
The report reads that 20 years ago most people buying these properties were captains of industry, merchant bankers or people of inherited wealth, generally aged between 45 and 55. However, today’s wealthy homebuyers tended to be younger, aged in their late 30s to early 40s.
The magazine analysed the buyers of 100 prime country homes that sold for more than £2m in 2004.
Around 40% of people buying an exclusive property last year were entrepreneurs, and 20% were City traders, lawyers and accountants. Bankers accounted for about 20%, while captains of industry inheritors of wealth accounted for 10% each.
The magazine found that professional footballers were also becoming a feature of the elite property market.
It said that while 20 years ago it would have been relatively unusual for a professional footballer to buy a prime country house, about 20 such properties had been sold to footballers in northern regions over the past two years.
The Cheshire market was dominated by players from leading clubs such as Manchester United, Liverpool, Everton, Blackburn and Manchester City, while in the south, Chelsea footballers were high-profile purchasers of large new houses within a few miles of their new training ground near Cobham. ‘They wouldn’t dream of driving round in a second-hand car, so why would they want a second-hand house?’ asks Richard Winter of Savills.
While in the past, buyers with more than £2m to spend tended to be concentrated in the south, developments such as the internet now meant entrepreneurs could run their businesses from anywhere in the country and homes were selling for large sums in northern regions such as Yorkshire and Cheshire.
Potential buyers were also happy to rent a house for three or even four years in their chosen location while they waited for the right property to come on to the market.
Article courtesy of propertyfinder.com
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