Property News

The Telegraph Travel Awards 2008 and their poll of over 25,000 readers have placed Greece in second place in their Best European Country ranking - only falling short to the ever-popular Italy - and in turn staking its claim as a growing destination of choice amongst the British.

These investment properties:

Investment property in Fuertaventura

Investment property in Marbella

We all hear about products and investment opportunities that just sound too good to be true and generally they are just that.  Nowhere is this more prevalent than in overseas property investments it seems to me.  Guaranteed rentals, guaranteed capital growth and all sorts of bells and whistles that frequently turn out to be less than they are billed as being.

However, every once in a while an offer comes out that genuinely ticks all the boxes and one has recently been released that, in my opinion, stands head and shoulders above any other I've seen.  It has:

If you were reading The Daily Mail this week (or Jeremy Clarkson in The Sunday Times) you will have no doubt spotted their article on a recent report by a Forbes magazine panel of experts on the most idyllic places to live in the world.  Personally, I think they showed too little imagination and probably too little diligence in their search as there are far too many large cities in the list.  Idyllic to me rarely conjures up images of traffic, pollution and noise – but then, maybe I’m the odd one out.

Is nobody paying the full price any more?  

We all know property prices have been falling in the UK but today’s property market has a concept not seen (or at least not as visibly) in previous market downturns - the Below Market Valuation (BMV) deal.  It seems that anyone who is buying property today is trying to get it at a price below what it is ostensibly worth, not just what it is priced at.  

But what does BMV really mean?  How does one find BMV properties in the current market? And how long will this phenomenon last?

Buying an investment property on the Ionian island of Kefalonia ticks all the boxes in my book:

Why is Turkey bubbling to the top of the “where’s worth closer look” discussions between property investors these days? Well if you nip and get your atlas and study closely the strategic location of Turkey, it's slap bang in the middle of major trading blocks of the Eastern and Western economies, no wonder the EU are encouraging Turkey to throw it’s economic chips in with theirs! 

Turkey is expected to be one of 2009's top holiday destinations according to a recent report by The Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA) and The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO).

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When the investor in property, at home or abroad, is considering the optimum locations to buy real estate there is a number of factors that are useful to take into account:

• regional economic forecasts;
• airline and other transport link developments;
• tourism forecasts.

To name but a few. 

Property in Calabria, Italy looks set for a boost from funding the EU has committed under the Cohesion Plan 2007.

If the reports coming out of the 7CI creditors meeting are true, and I stress “if” then it is surely a sad day for our Industry, and I for one hope that the rumours that client money has been used to support the business transpires to be a bit of gossip mongering rather than a fact.  

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Where people are buying property in Egypt

There are two key areas in Egypt where people are currently invvesting in property: the Mediterranean coast and the Red Sea Riviera.

Those who enjoy diving as a hobby will be familiar with Sharm el Sheikh, Hurghada and El Gouna, and most Red Sea developments are in or near these towns.

For the keen investor in property abroad or for those who have recently been wondering how to buy their second home overseas the industry publication, OPP, has recently come out with some good news to cheer us all.  Mortgages may have been in the news lately for all the wrong reasons but it seems buying a property abroad in 2009 is going to be eminently feasible for many.

90% OF EURO BANKS EXPECT TO INCREASE NON-RESIDENT
LENDING IN 09

A fall of 16-20% in UK Property values and very low interest rates is stirring UK based investors into action, but surely when you combine these bargain basement prices with weakness of Sterling against the Dollar and Euro there will never be a better time for Overseas Property Investors to make a move into the UK property market.

Tunisia seems to be one of the few countries around the world to have escaped relatively unscathed from the global financial crisis which is affecting so many other developed and developing economies around the world.

Gross Domestic Product in 2008 is estimated to have increased by 23.53% from the 2007 figures; in real terms an increase in GDP growth from 5.1% in 2007 to 6.3% is expected in 2008 (Source: CIA World Factbook).

For the property investor seeking to generate an income from their investment property the varying yields that can be achieved from property in Berlin, property in Dresden and other more vacation-based locations such as property in France or property in Spain can seem perplexing.  It is worth, therefore, examining some of the reasons behind these varying yields.

In an Exclusive interview with Overseas Property Centres, the CEO of the UK's leading property conveyencing business revealed that they are seeing definite positive signs of increased activity in the UK housing market with a recent marked increase in instructions.  With a return to levels not seen since last summer!

Recent research by INSM in collaboration with the ‘Wirtschaftswoche’ and carried out by IW Consult took 104 results of economical and infrastructure indicators into consideration such as GDP, incomes and investments, unemployment, the amount of highly qualified people by head and even debtor situations for a number of German cities. 

The results are interesting and point to the excellent position in which many of the Eastern German cities find themselves.

It’s that time of year again when we all wonder what’s in store and how we got things so abysmally wrong this time last year.  So I’m not going to make foolish predictions that will haunt me for the next 12 months.  Instead, I’m going to suggest our clients and visitors look at some trends and areas in detail when considering where to invest in 2009.

Financial Assets

The Portuguese government has recently announced a series of infrastructure investments in the Oeste region.  Much had been on hold pending the decision about Lisbon's 'new' airport, but now that is going to Alcochete, south of the Tagus river, they are proceeding with the other projects around Obidos.  

New research by Cater Allen Private Bank, part of Santander suggests that over three million British Citizens are likely to buy a property overseas within the next two years as economic conditions in the UK make strong returns for other types of investment less likely

Its survey of UK clients found that some 2.3 million people already own a property abroad, with around 500,000, or less than 25%, having bought for investment purposes.

I couldn’t help but wonder what would be the leading news story if in the current climate aliens did land in London; I could just hear Nikki Campbell on the Radio 5 live breakfast show saying “Today we ask what effect Aliens landing in London will have on your pensions, savings, house prices and employment?” It seems that there is nothing else going on in the world except depressing news stories that echo to the sound of Private Fraser in Dads Army… “Your doooomed, we are all dooooomed”.

Some of us manage it only once a year. The luckier ones amongst us make it a weekly or daily occurrence. 

Visiting a spa for treatment, a massage, facial and relaxation therapy has become the norm in the 21st Century and not just for women. Gone are the days when she would say she’d had a facial and he, being a foolish male, would comment that there must be a mistake as she still seemed to have the old one. Now he’s having facials, exfoliation and body wraps. And we’re all doing it much more frequently.

With Dubai’s currency being linked to the US Dollar investors are turning the sights on Dubai particularly the longer term off plan deals and speculating that adding a stronger dollar to the organic equity growth could lead to better than predicted returns.

I’ve always thought of Dubai as a great long term place to invest, long term because I suspect short term saleability might be a problem but there is no doubt that if Dubai does become the New York of the Middle East then who wouldn’t mind owning a few apartments in New York!

 Tunnel to lead to North African property boom?

Apart from a few pockets of interest, Africa has been largely overlooked by tourism and overseas property buyers. The North African coast, with its proximity to Europe has always been the exception and emerging markets in Egypt and Morocco, in particular, are proving to be strong.