Bitcoin’s powerful surge offers traction in global real estate transactions as industry seeks to overcome volatility
- About 14 in every 100,000 US property listings indicate readiness to accept cryptocurrencies as mode of payment, agency says
- Bitcoin, the best known among them, rose 60 per cent in 2021 and more than 1,000 per cent over the past three years
About 14 out of every 100,000 property listings in the US accept digital currencies as payment, according to Marc von Grundherr, managing director at London-based property agency Benham and Reeves.
They include a three-bedroom ground floor flat with private outdoor entrance and outdoor patio in Scottsdale, Arizona, which is being sold for US$2.07 million, while a two-bedroom penthouse in the same state is listed at US$1.9 million.
In the UK, two listings showed bitcoin are accepted as payments for a £17 million (US$23 million) West London mansion and a £270,000 one-bedroom flat on Clarence Road in the capital. Another will accept cryptocurrencies for a £1.27 million three-bedroom home in London.
“It’s certainly becoming more popular in the sense that there are some buyers utilising it as a pathway to purchasing a property,” said von Grundherr. “We’re now seeing a small number of mortgage lenders, banks and agents also starting to accept it as either payment or proof of financial stability.”
