Almost half of the buyers of central London property costing more than a million pounds were foreign, according to a study conducted by the property group Knight Frank.
The high number, in the year that ended in June 2013, will add to a controversy over affordability in the British capital, and follows other reports suggesting that the flow of foreign money into London housing is distorting the wider housing market.
Neighbourhoods around Hyde Park, including Kensington, Mayfair and Knightsbridge, are classed as central London or "prime London". There has long been activity by foreign buyers in this area.
Knight Frank's research found 49 per ccent of buyers in these areas were not British by nationality. When it came to the buyers' country of residence, however, the majority - 72 per cent - lived here.
Non-UK buyers were made up mainly of Europeans and those from the Middle East. Russian buyers too were a dominant group, the broker's research showed.
The firm had previously reported on high numbers of French and Italian buyers, especially in early 2012, when fears about the future of the euro were high.
