Belize Real Estate  Links  
Real Estate Information

Where is the Sophisticated Property Investor Putting his Money?


The Traditional Favourites

Over the last five to ten years, UK investors buying property abroad have generally stuck to the traditional favourites Spain, France and Italy. With prices a fraction of those in the UK and a guarantee of more sunshine, these markets offered plenty of scope for capital appreciation, rental return and holiday home use. However as prices have steadily risen in these countries, yields have hardened in response and an eventual over-supply particularly in parts of Spain has occurred. In today's environment property investors are looking further East for yield and capital appreciation opportunities.

Emerging Markets

A year ago ten more countries joined the EU, expanding not only the Union, but the hunting ground of the international property investor. Most investors have come to the conclusion that the market cycle here in the UK is at it's peak, and the more sophisticated investor has already started moving his money into the new EU countries. Many astute investors started buying there a year or two before EU accession, particularly in more developed cities like Prague and Budapest where the real estate markets were relatively more mature. So prices in these cities had already increased by up to 25% in the year up to May 2004, however there is still a long way to go especially in the other capitals of this region.

It's Just Economics!

Putting your money into an emerging market surely has to be profitable because by the very definition of 'emerging', you should assume growth, and therefore return. EU accession is a massive catalyst to the growth of an economy as the EU is committed to backing these countries in a bid to creating comparable economies to those of it's current members. Government incentives, new political regimes and tax reforms are creating an ideal climate for foreign direct investment, higher employment and GDP growth, which all directly affect the property market.

The relative attractiveness of the older EU capitals from a corporate location point of view is changing according to a DTZ report on the Emerging EU economies. The report concludes that Bratislava, Berlin, Prague and Budapest will be the main beneficiaries in this new economic geography mainly due to their location and catchment areas, the associated low costs especially labour, skills base and the economic growth prospects of these four cities. In less than a year since the 10 countries joined the union this is already evident, particularly in Bratislava as Slovakia wins some of the biggest foreign investment contracts in the region.

Going Forward in 2005

I think most would agree that for long term steady growth complemented by relatively few risks investing in bricks and mortar at home in the UK cannot be beaten for a good solid pension plan. Over the last 10 years the more adventurous have strayed off the beaten path to Spain, Italy and France in search of holiday homes and to diversify their portfolio. There is now however a new and far more exciting playground for us property investors which is sponsored by the European Union, has the most diverse culture in the world, it's experiencing unrivalled GDP growth and it's property market is currently way undervalued.

Not only has the UK property market levelled out, it looks to stay that way for the next couple of years and the traditional overseas investment spots seem to have lost momentum and have been overshadowed by something bigger. The pioneers have cleared the stones from the road to Eastern Europe and 2005 is a great time to arrive at the party!

Bruce Stronge is one of the founding partners of Slovak Investments, a company offering the complete Slovakian property investment solution for foreigners. Newsletters, European property market news and new deal alerts are available at the company website http://www.slovakinvestments.com


MORE RESOURCES:

Cole Real Estate Investments Executes Nearly 640000 Square Feet in Retail ...
San Francisco Chronicle (press release)
Cole Real Estate Investments (Cole), one of the nation's leading investors in high-quality, income-producing retail, office and industrial real estate assets, announced it signed leases totaling nearly 640000 square feet at Cole-related retail ...

and more »


PR Web (press release)

Web Winners: Navigating real estate industry
News & Observer
By REID KANALEY - The Philadelphia Inquirer Real estate is no easy game, as "underwater" homeowners have found in recent years. You need your wits about you, and these sites help you do that with plain language and suggestions. -The home-buying page at ...
REALTOR(R) University Granted Approval to Offer Master of Real Estate Degree ...MarketWatch (press release)
Real Estate Investment Expert Brett Jennings Signs Publishing Deal With ...PR Web (press release)
Real Estate - LeasesConnecticut Business News Journal
Utah Pulse -NJBIZ
all 15 news articles »


Tossed® Hires Real Estate Veteran A. Michael Toroyan as Chief Development Officer
MarketWatch (press release)
Toroyan, a 20-year veteran of the restaurant real estate, and franchising, will bring even greater momentum to Tossed's strong and growing franchise development efforts across the US Toroyan comes to Tossed Franchise Corporation from a previous post as ...

and more »


IPE.com

Sam Zell "Comes Clean" for Penton's National Real Estate Investor (nreionline.com)
Sacramento Bee
7, 2012 -- /PRNewswire/ -- In an interview in the February 2012 issue of National Real Estate Investor, Sam Zell, chairman of Equity Group Investments, stated that the commercial real estate industry needs to "come clean" with expectations.
MIPIM Launches RE-Invest: The Real Estate Summit for Institutional InvestorsMarketWatch (press release)
Investing In China's Real Estate Market: A Look At Funding OptionsNuWire Investor
John Waggoner column: REITs might be good investment to landAppleton Post Crescent
Seeking Alpha -Citybizlist Real Estate
all 17 news articles »


SmartTouch Interactive Launches New Lead Adapter to Integrate with Third Party ...
MarketWatch (press release)
AUSTIN, Texas, Feb 08, 2012 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- SmartTouch(R) Interactive, an interactive real estate marketing agency and real estate marketing automation and CRM software development company, today announced that it has made available the new Smart ...

and more »


TheStreet.com

Irish Real Estate: This Could Be the Time
TheStreet.com
By Jerold Leslie 02/08/12 - 07:00 AM EST BOSTON (MainStreet) -- Ireland's housing bust makes America's real estate downturn look like a St. Patrick's Day parade -- potentially creating great buying opportunities for Americans willing to test the ...

and more »


CBS Local

Real estate developer says he plans to make cash bid for Philadelphia's 2 ...
Washington Post
PHILADELPHIA — A wealthy real estate developer said Tuesday he and four partners plan to make an offer to buy the city's two largest newspapers, whose downtown offices he already owns. Bart Blatstein said he plans to pursue an acquisition of some or ...
Developer Blatstein seeking to buy Inquirer, Daily News companyBizjournals.com (blog)
Developer plans to make bid for Philly newspapersBoston.com

all 171 news articles »


Seacoast real estate sales off to a robust 2012 start
Seacoastonline.com
“Without a doubt, the favorable weather conditions are helping the Seacoast real estate market, especially compared to a year ago at this time,” said Lauren Kane, president of the Seacoast Board of Realtors. “The residential sales decline for January ...

and more »


TEXT: S&P: Nomura Real Estate Residential Fund Bonds Rated 'A'
Reuters
8, 2012--Standard & Poor's Ratings Services today assigned its 'A' rating to Nomura Real Estate Residential Fund Inc.'s (NRF; A/Stable/A-1) proposed JPY5 billion series 2 unsecured bonds, due Feb. 24, 2017. The rating on NRF reflects its relatively ...

and more »


Big deals highlight 2011 real estate in Snowmass
Snowmass Sun Online News
SNOWMASS VILLAGE, Colorado — 2011 won't go down in Snowmass Village as the most lucrative year for real estate sales, but it could be remembered as a pivotal one. Glenwood Springs-based Land Title Guarantee Co. recently issued its year-end report for ...

and more »

Google News

home | site map | Colorado Log Homes | Homes for Sale in Denver Metro
© 2006