International buyers bought more than half of all homes purchased in prime central London in the second half of last year.

In all, overseas buyers, including from the EU, bought 57% of homes, the highest level for six years.

Hamptons International, part of Countrywide, also said that over a third of buyers (36%) in Greater London were foreigners.

Hamptons said that the pick-up in the proportion of foreign buyers – from 55% a year earlier – was due to a fall in UK buyers, together with an increase in EU purchasers.

The proportion of homes bought by middle eastern buyers in prime central London has nearly halved, from 15% in the second half of 2017 to 8%.

Aneisha Beveridge, head of research at Hamptons, said: “Sterling’s weakness, making it cheaper for many international buyers, seems to be outweighing Brexit uncertainty.

“A property that would have cost an EU buyer £1m in the first half of 2016 effectively cost £124,000 less in the second half of last year due to sterling’s depreciation.”