These days, more investors include foreign residential property in their portfolios. For some of them, it is not simply about investing or diversifying their portfolios. They buy residential apartment and/or villas in resort areas for leisure as well.
Which countries and cities are the most popular places for those foreigners who like investing in residential property? Market Leader has introduced its own rating of housing markets in order to answer this question.
Rating
The index is based on 2 independent criteria:
· The amount of internet search requests + month-over-month change (Yandex)
· The amount of references in mass media (Yandex.News)
The current rating looks as follows:
As compared to last month’s rating, the situation has changed a bit. London has become the most popular city, thereby outpacing Prague.
In terms of references in Yandex.News, London has become the most mentioned city on websites related with residential property (+36 news releases).
Rome is the outsider (-16 news releases)
Paris is number 2 (+35 news releases)
London became number one mainly due the fact that the local housing market is bullish (i.e. housing prices are growing). Definitely, this fact attracts foreign investors. Another major factor is the transparency of all agreements and transactions. Moreover, in Great Britain, you don’t need to pay real estate taxes every single year, which allows you to save a lot of money,
Another benefit is the fact that even foreigners can purchase fixed property in London through mortgage loans.
The most popular London areas for foreign buyers of residential property are Knightsbridge, Chelsea, Kensington, Belgravia and Mayfair.
Even though London is one of the most expensive cities in terms of residential property, there are still many foreigners who would like to invest in London’s housing market.
At this point, local real-estate agencies report about a decline in the demand for luxurious and expensive property, which pushes down their cost. Obviously, this is the best time for well-off foreigners to buy expensive apartments.
More experts anticipate further strengthen of the UK housing market in general. London is not an exception.
Prague is the 2nd most popular city among those foreigners who invest in residential property abroad. More foreigners start buying fixed property there as they are attracted by a stable economy and moderate prices. Czech Republic is one of the most open European countries for foreign businesses. Thanks to well-developed infrastructure and mild climate, it gives you a lot of options for business and leisure.
Outlook
Experts say that 2012 was (in general) a successful year for the global housing market. In most countries around the globe, housing prices got more stable. As investors strive to preserve and multiply their funds, they tend to invest more in stable economies and less risky assets. That is why more investors start paying attention to residential and commercial property abroad.
In this aspect, they expect a boosting demand for residential and commercial property in big European cities like London, Paris, Prague etc.
However, the overall situation in the European housing market is still unstable as prices are showing weakness.
Therefore, at this point, fixed property can be treated only as a long-term investment opportunity as it would be next to impossible to re-sell the newly-bought property to make decent profits. It is better to rent it out.
