Prices rise 7% for the first quarter in Bulgaria
The average price for a property in Bulgaria rose by 7% in the first quarter according to the Bulgarian national institute of statistics.
The average price per square metre was 1.299 BGN (around 655 euros or £450), with areas around the capital of Sofia rising by 2.4% and ski resorts reporting 4.5%. The winners were areas around the black sea coast of Sunny Beach and Golden Coast around reporting increases of 8%.
This could be due to the increase of summer flights to the Sunny Beach this year. This season is looking to be one of the busiest since records began. Bookings for accommodation are already up 18% according to Dolomit Holiday rentals.
28/04/2008Turkey needs 300,000 properties a year says Chamber of Commerce
Istanbul’s Chamber of Commerce (ITO) has claimed that a housing shortage is looming in the country that needs between 300,000 and 350,000 new properties to be built annually to cope with the demand placed on it from a growing younger population and foreign interest. Data obtained from the ITO revealed that in the next eight years, a projected 5.5million new homes will be required to facilitate the country’s expanding population. Some 2.88 million will be needed due to population increases, 760,000 to cope with internal migration and 652,000 to replace old and neglected properties. The ITO also revealed that an additional 1.25 million homes would be needed as part of ongoing urban transformation projects across the country. 22/04/2008Support for low cost airlines flying to Cyprus
The Cyprus Tourism Organisation (CTO) has reportedly been given the go ahead from the EU to provide support to airlines to introduce new routes to the island. The move from the EU and the Cypriot government is part of a strategy to bring in more tourists to help boost its flagging industry.
“It’s a new scheme and it’s a transparent one, which is applicable to all European airlines, not just low-cost carriers,” said CTO director general Phoebe Katsouri in an interview with the Cyprus Mail. The CTO revealed that it had been working for months to secure the deal with the EU, which bans direct subsidies to the airline industry from countries within the Union.
Katsouri stopped short of saying the Cypriot government would be providing economic support to airlines interested in establishing new routes, however she said interested parties would receive marketing support from the CTO. “We formulated a scheme which complies with EU directives and regulations and now we have the green light.”
Under EU rules, support to airlines can be given for between three and five years and the carriers must commit to year round flights to the island. The scheme came about after the CTO had a study carried out that determined the biggest obstacle facing Cyprus tourism was accessibility by air. Last month, Ryanair said that it was unhappy with the flight taxes charged on routes departing Cyprus and that it would not start offering flights to the country until these were lowered.
Katsouri said she was in the process of negotiating new deals with several airlines and that Ryanair and easyJet were two of them. However, the new routes to the island, if taken up by EU airlines, will not be implemented before next year. “The earliest would be winter 2008 - 2009 and even that is doubtful,” Katsouri said. “But this is a chance, and we are doing our utmost not to waste any time. From 2009, there will be concrete results.”
Spain is the top searched destination for March
Spain has beaten Italy to the top of the MoveChannel.com’s Top of the Props chart for March, attracting 8.52% of all enquiries on the portal.Last month’s number one, Italy (8.02%), dropped to second place on the chart which tracks the number or property enquiries recorded by the portal on a monthly basis. France continues its slide down the table dropping a further two place in March, finishing at fifth spot. Portugal performed strongly last month, climbing four places to finish at fourth.
Enquiries about Turkey and Brazil were also strong, however, the big star of the chart this month is the USA, which climbed three spots to finish at third position. What makes this more of an achievement is the poor economic conditions that have hit the country’s property sector in the last year. It seems that foreign buyers are starting to wake up to the country’s cheap distressed properties and value for money with the Pound and the Euro all at record highs against the Dollar. 22/04/2008
UK landlords opting to invest overseas
Rising house prices in the UK and a bleak forecast for the market’s immediate future is forcing UK buy-to-let investors to sell their properties and buy abroad, according to UK-based portal Landlord.co.uk. “Our in house research suggests that many of the 14,000 landlords registered with our site are selling their properties at once,” said Tim Warrington the portal’s managing director. “It seems that UK landlords are looking to buy more property but a lot have decided to cash in on their domestic investments, with some of them making £80,000 profit in the last six years from a simple two bedroom terraced house. They have decided that market conditions are looking bleak here, so they’re paying off debts and trying their luck abroad.” In the wake of the US sub-prime fallout hitting the UK, and lender Northern Rock getting bailed out by the Bank of England knocking confidence in the UK housing market. 01/04/08Women more committed to property investing
A survey of over 1,000 women in property, commissioned by Bradford & Bingley, found that 76% are successfully holding down day jobs in addition to managing their investment properties; 42% take on much of the renovation/improvement work themselves; and 26% intend to invest in further properties within the next 12 months. The research, which marks the launch of the Bradford & Bingley Property Woman of the Year Awards, also revealed that 34% were 30 or under when they bought their first investment property (bucking the national average of 34 years old); 59% cite investment potential as a key motivator to buy; and 47% see property as a pension replacement. While various other surveys have highlighted the growing proportion of women investing in property, or the rising affluence of the UK’s female population, this YouGov survey of 1,025 female property investors found that women are far more involved in the bricks and mortar elements of property investment. For example, 71% have or would take on much of the renovation/improvement work themselves; 31% have fitted/would fit a kitchen; 21% have knocked down/would knock down walls; 15% have done/would do their own plumbing; and 10% have rewired/would rewire their property. A general mistrust of trades people (48% feel they were quoted higher prices simply because they are females) extends to agents – with 57% choosing to manage their properties privately. These multi-tasking women are already seeing healthy returns, with 10% who have made £50,000 or more from the sale of their properties and 9% earning £10,000 a year or more on their property investments. 1/02/08Turkey goes from strength to strength
Recent tourism figures suggest that Turkey’s popularity is growing considerably, driven by new flights and a higher profile as both a holiday and second home destination.
Tourist numbers have risen by 23.5% since last year and tourist spending was up 8.6% in the third quarter of 2007 according to the Turkish Statistics Institute (y-o-y Sept 06-Sept 07). The WTO ranked Turkey eighth in the world in 2005 with tourism income of $18.2billion.
A new Turkish mortgage law should make Turkey’s resorts even more attractive to foreign investors. Isbank is already working with 40 intermediaries to promote its new variable and tracker rate mortgages to UK residents.
According to land registry figures, purchases by foreign investors exceeded $2.9bn in 2006. As of July 2005, 44,684 properties were owned by non-nationals in Turkey of which 12,749 were owned by Brits. However, following the temporary freeze on sales to foreign citizens, which ended in January 2006, Turkey has seen a boom with an estimated 25,000 foreigners buying (with Brits accounting for between 9,000 and 10,000 sales).
A low cost of living, 300+ days of sunshine and a stable economy are all luring more investors and emigrates alike.
Half of Independent Financial Advisors claim overseas property a better investment
Baydonhill recently conducted interviews with 100 IFAs and networks to gauge confidence and interest in overseas property. It found that half of IFAs believe overseas property will provide their clients with better returns in the short term and three in ten advisers have seen an increase in overseas property business within the last 12 months. Further analysis revealed that France, Spain, Italy and Portugal are the most popular investment destinations. “Overseas buyers are starting to realise that there are now reliable sources of information on investing in overseas property out there other than the traditional banking routes,” said Fiona Watts, head of mortgages at Baydonhill. “IFAs stand to make good commissions on this business if they can demonstrate knowledge and experience of the complexities of buying overseas.” Commenting on the perceived risk elements, Watts added that 53% of advisers are worried about rental yields overseas, 27% are concerned about re-mortgaging, and 13% cite fears about ‘red tape’. 01/03/08National Association of Estate Agents merges with International Association
The National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA) and the Federation of Overseas Property Developers, Agents and Consultants (FOPDAC) have signed a formal agreement this week to merge FOPDAC with the international section of the NAEA. The new venture will be called the NAEA International incorporating FOPDAC. “This is a significant step for both organisations and I am delighted that we are now joining forces in this way,” said Ian Tonge, chairman of the NAEA International working group. “Members and consumers will be able to benefit from the combined knowledge and experience of both the NAEA and FOPDAC. Through this partnership we hope to make a further, positive difference in the international property arena.” The two organisations are both members of the European Confederation of Estate Agents (CEI) and worked together in 2005 to bring about the introduction of a new International Code of Practice which, it claims, has since been accepted by the 40,000 estate agent members of the CEI. “I have worked with FOPDAC for 30 years but I am keenly looking forward to implementing the ambitious goals being set by the new combined team," said Keith Baker, legal advisor for FOPDAC. "This has been a very easy merger to negotiate as it rapidly became apparent how close our philosophies were.” FOPDAC was established in 1973 to unite UK-based agents and developers working in the overseas property industry in a self-regulatory capacity under a unified code of conduct. The NAEA has over 10,000 members selling and letting UK and overseas property in both commercial and residential capacities. 1/01/08
