Overseas Property Investment

Australian’s traditional houses were made of corrugated iron, roof and sometimes even walls, in the absence of wood, with big veranda all around. The veranda started off purely practical – a tin house turns into an oven very quickly in Australia’s heat.

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Lanzarote Apartment

British tourism up 16.7% during January/February 2008

 
Overseas investors with interests in the Lanzarote property market will have been warmed by the release of the latest tourist figures for the island. Which reveal an upsurge 16.7% in British visitor numbers for the first two months of 2008. According to statistics just released by Spanish airport operator AENA.
 
The figures for January and February represent the first reversal of a downward trend in visitor numbers from the UK over recent years. Although this has been slight – and from a position of enormous popularity – as Lanzarote still attracted over 1 million visitors from Britain and Ireland during 2007 alone.
 
Many observers feared that the current credit crunch and resulting tightening of the consumer purse strings might have a negative impact upon both tourism and the property market on the island. 
 
However, these fears have proved unfounded – and suggest that, conversely, Lanzarote might even benefit. As hard-pressed consumers eschew more expensive and exotic locations in favour of better value holiday options closer to home.
 
Certainly, owners of holiday rental apartments in Lanzarote aren’t complaining.
As, according to ASOLAN, the islands hoteliers association, occupancy levels rose 7% across all accommodation categories. With self-catering apartments in particular performing exceptionally well – recording occupancy of 84.19% during January and February. Which normally are amongst the quietest periods in the holiday rental calendar.
 
Island based holiday companies, such as White Beach Holidays and Lanzarote1 are also reporting a bumper start to the year. With forward bookings also showing double-digit growth to date on 2007 figures.
 
And it’s not just the British who are flocking to the island. As overall foreign visitor numbers are up by nearly 11%. With Lanzarote enjoying a particular resurgence of popularity in the Scandinavian market place – traditionally a source of decent visitor numbers back in the 1980´s, when tourism first really took off. During January and February visitor numbers from Norway and Sweden leapt by 31.1% and 61.7% respectively.
 
Where tourism leads, property investment tends to follow. And as previously reported by leading island property portal, Lanzarote Guidebook, demand for entry-level investments on Lanzarote – in the form of studios and apartments – remains buoyant.

More on Lanzarote Visitor Numbers Surge by 11%

Dubai. First trip this year is to get my Dubai properties registered. If, like me you have purchased property in Dubai recently, it is important to register the purchase with the Dubai Land Department.

More on 2008 New Year’s Resolutions

Or Cyprus, or Italy or Mexico. More and more Americans are looking further afield than New York for their second or even third home. According to the National Association of Realtors, some 5 to 600,000 foreign properties are owned by Americans living abroad. The most popular locations are Britain, Mexico, Canada, Italy, and Germany. Even though housing prices in many European countries outpace the U.S. market, when compared to large U.S. metropolitan areas there are still bargains to be found in some parts of Europe.

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The latest Knight Frank Global Price Index reveals that growth in residential property markets around the world is slowing. On an un-weighted basis prices globally rose by 8.2% per annum to Q3 2007 compared to 9.6% 12 months earlier. Rising interest rates have been a major factor in slowing house price growth, together with the tightening of lending criteria seen in many European countries.

More on 2008 Property Hotspots – Singapore and Bulgaria

A massive change in the value of the dollar, combined with soaring building costs is changing the face of the international property investment markets. We highlighted a few likely markets recently in “The Top Ten Property Investment Hotspots for 2008,” but thought another look around the world’s investment property markets was in order. Ahmed believes the Panama property bubble is about to burst, but my feeling is there are a few more good years to be had from this market and properties such as the Trump Ocean Club under construction in Panama City will be a good earner. My feeling is the Hotel/Condo arena is the way to go in emerging markets. And with a few exceptions down in Florida, anything with “The Donald’s” name on it is a good bet. Of course, when we talk about Panama real estate, we are talking about Panama City only. The rest of the country has yet to see the sort of infra structure needed to support these sort of developments.

More on Property Markets to Invest in During 2008

As a professional overseas property investor, I am only too aware that I am constantly one mistake away from bankruptcy – that’s all it takes – one investment gone awry, one condominium building that didn’t get built, a sudden unexpected drop in the market, a burst real estate bubble, and I am back to washing dishes. Well, maybe not quite that bad – I might have to sell one of the Bentleys, which would be almost as much of a disaster.

More on I’m done with Panama Real Estate

FACTS ABOUT BULGARIAN PROPERTIES
Photo: Bulgaria
Two months after joining the European Union, Bulgaria began attracting increasing interest towards local real estates. Its strategic geographic location and the membership in EU and NATO turn it into an attractive destination for property buyers. For sure, you need to have more information before investing your money into a small country with a beautiful countryside and extremely low prices for Europe.More on Facts about real estates in Bulgaria – the latest European Union member

More on Facts about real estates in Bulgaria – the latest European Union member

If you’re ready to invest in residential investment property, you are about to set off on a juicy, long-term investment that will bring you big bucks in the years to come – if you manage your money wisely. The first step on your way is to get an investment property loan.

More on Residential Investment Property Loans – Crunching Numbers

Brad pitt and Angelina Jolie have reportedly invested in Dubai’s The World offshore development. According to sources in Dubai, the Pitts have bought an artificial island of their own to “encourage people to live a greener lifestyle,” *chokes on his coffee*. Why they can’t just coma out and say, “we want to make money investing in international property ,” is beyong us.

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