Overseas Real Estate Blog

There has bee much speculation as to who is buying what overseas property in this weekend newspapers. Much of the comment I would agree with, namely that those looking ahead to buy a home for mainly own use and possible future, or actual retirement, have come to the fore. I have therefore seen more requests for larger properties which provide the space for long term stay. My view is that this market is forecast to grow with the ageing baby boom population who look for homes to spend at least part of the year in. Interestingly, these second homes are sometimes ski resorts as well as hot destinations. For those looking to work whilst in their holiay home involving frequent travel, then proximity to airport is essential.

rural house in Bulgaria

We have seen also a dive to quality, such as our Veranda development in Sahl Hasheesh and Santa Marina development in Sozopol, Bulgaria. These offer exceptional value for money as do some forthcoming projects in Turkey but they are not the £10,000 crash pads but proper homes costing from £60,000 upwards for a one bedroom apartment. Due to the reputation of the developer over 30% of the buyers in Veranda have been wealthy Egyptians who mainly live in Cairo.

Generalisations for countries price rises are so misleading. No doubt buyers are more cautious and now often understand that there is a reason why a place is cheaper than others. There are often huge differences in the quality of build, architecture, build density and location. This can lead to one area falling in value (like much of Sunny Beach) and others increasing substantially.

Should I buy now or leave it? Well we all have our own considerations, but if you require a mortgage to do so, and you have a concern about your current increasing mortgage and energy prices, then I doubt you would be rushing out to buy overseas property out of anything but savings.

Do you already have an overseas property portfolio? Well you maybe waiting to see what happens. After all, the media concensus seems to be the UK economy will suffer further.....and endless speculation as to when or if fuel prices decrease, bank liquidity returns, interest rates reduce etc? But whoever calls the bottom of the market when fear seems to quickly move to greed ? By the time we read a media consensus that its now the right time to get back into the market and the world is not coming to an end, then with our experience of times past, we know deep down that everyone else will think, and then do, the same. This will be not so great for most of us as developers "kindly" respond to the up turn in demand and increase their prices.

So actually now is a perfect time for overseas property buyers to start their search. And for the cautious this is an excellent time to go inspect and if you like what you see buy. For example, if you were previously looking to spend £150,000 in Spain why not check out Egypt where the sun is guaranteed all year round, every single day and stunning value is available. You can buy here front line, on the beach a one bedroom apartment with sea view for around £52,000. or a cheaper studio close to the town, but still with all the facilities for around £19,000

Alternatively if you were looking to leverage £100,000, why don't you spend £20,000 or less instead, with no mortgage ,on a rural plot in Bulgaria. Call Jet2Let Property on +44(0)113 3131000 for viewing of some plots and also houses on plots requiring renovation. We have found some areas that are likely to lift in value due to major infrastructure projects opening up new areas.

Long term investment horizons are often required for land, and rental income best ignored, but if you fancy diversifying your portfolio then this is one good way. We also have some larger plots in Turkey.

Finally we have some investors searching out what there is an under supply of in a certain area. This could be either very cheap and affordable homes or large three or four bedroom homes whichever there is a shortage of. We have found that some new investment locations are attracting buyers from Russia and Eastern Europe, these buyers will look for the best in an area and its certainly likely that they will have an increasing impact on the direction of re sale prices.