Foreigners Snap Up $2bn in London Property in Christmas Week

Foreign investment in the London property market has been growing for 18 months, but never so fast as in the week before Christmas. In one week alone buyers from Asia, Africa and Europe bought £1.3 billion worth of skyscrapers, upmarket clothes shops and sprawling City office developments.

The surge of demand shows that London still retains its safe haven status even as the EU crisis worsens and there was talk of British isolation.

“Buyers are aware that now is a good time to come into the London market as many sellers are distressed or concerned about the impact of the eurozone crisis on future valuations,” said James Beckham, director of capital markets at Jones Lang LaSalle, the property services group.

The purchase of Tower 42 Nathan Kirsh, the South African property tycoon, from BlackRock and Hermes Real Estate, was the biggest and most noteworthy sale of the week. The tallest occupied skyscraper in the City and former headquarters of NatWest bank went for £282.5m.

The Malaysian government's investment arm Permodalan Nasional Bhd also made the noteworthy shortlist with its £350m office complex purchase. In its UK debut PNB snapped up the 460,000 square foot Silk Street Building just down the road from Tower 42.

It is not just prime office stock that has attracted overseas interest, however. A property investment vehicle backed by Ernesto Bertarelli, the Swiss-Italian pharmaceuticals billionaire, on Wednesday announced its first investment, acquiring a 186,000 sq ft mixed-used building in Mayfair in a deal rumoured to be worth more than £100m.

Overseas Investors Increasingly Interested in Memphis Property

According to one estate agent in Memphis, Tennessee, the city has seen a raft of overseas property buyers looking for cheaper investment opportunities, and the company feels this is down to the government's willingness to help foreign businesses. The government of Memphis and its civic leaders has been working over the last couple of years to improve the image of Memphis, emphasising that it is a world class city. It looks as if their efforts have been paying off, and a number of foreign-based companies have recently announced their intention to relocate facilities to Memphis.

Memphis is increasing its appeal to investors from Canada, Europe, Asia and Australasia, and the local estate agency admits it was caught unawares by the increased interest, as the majority of foreign investors tend to stick to known tourist destinations such as Florida or Las Vegas. It looks as if it is attracting investors who are looking for a lower cost investment which will produce positive cash flow and long-term stability, and the fact that Memphis is becoming well known as a business city, also helps considerably.

Now estate agents in the city are hoping to adapt to the new needs of international investors, and are learning to cope with different time zones and different cultural, legal and language barriers. At the moment foreign investors make up around 7% of all US home sales, so it is an important part of the market. However this particular Memphis estate agent believes that foreign investors will account for 20% of all sales during the fourth quarter of 2011 into the first quarter of 2012, and has plans to increase this percentage next year.

Holiday Home Buyers Advised to do Research

This is the time of year when many people holidaying abroad are tempted by the thought of owning a holiday home, and a few will go ahead and make their purchase without fully considering the consequences.

A new report from Smart Currency Exchange advises would be second home owners to approach this transaction in the same way as any other business or commercial transaction. This is especially true at the moment where many people are being tempted to buy abroad by the abundance of bargains in places such as Florida, Spain and Portugal.

One thing that Charles Purdy, Director of Smart Currency Exchange advises is to always have an exit strategy, as circumstances can change quite rapidly sometimes, and a lot of people may be forced, or may choose to return to the UK. One thing that people should always check is the year round weather, as some places which seem idyllic during the summer months can be anything but during the winter. Some of the amenities may shut during the low season, and there may be far fewer flights.

He advises people to rent for a few months or a longer before making their final choice, and to do their research thoroughly as to any future developments which may affect their property. Getting good legal advice is also essential, and it is worth paying extra to ensure it is independent. Buying a property overseas can be a life changing experience, but research is essential to ensure it is a positive life choice.

Australians Finding Value in US Property Market

Australians are viewing the US as a good property investment opportunity, but real estate experts are cautioning investors to do their research before making an investment.

Australia has a strong dollar and the US property market has an abundance of foreclosures on the market. With median prices being much lower in the US, Australians are tempted to make overseas investments to enrich their portfolios.

The median house price in Perth, Australia is $465,000 and in the US is $210,000. With the falling rate of home ownership in the US, the market is peaking the interest of international investors.

According to Leigh Gavin, head of property research at Frontier Investment Consulting, for every 1 percent that home ownership rate falls, it equals about 1.1 million households.

In the last year, about $600 million dollars have come in from Australian investors into the US property market. Some are even paying for investments that they have never seen. This may not be wise though, if the area that the properties are being purchased are not in attractive areas. The potential for loss in the future is greater if the area is run down or in a high crime area.

Some experts are advising that investors look into multi-family housing and some companies are available to assist overseas investors find and purchase such housing for as little as $10,000. Multi-family housing is booming in the US due to Generation Y’s reluctance to purchase their own homes with the economy the way it is.

In Australia, yields on apartments are about 2-3 percent, but in the US yields are about 5-6 percent. The US property market is expected to continue to see slow recovery this year, as more and more people begin to show interest in purchasing homes once again.

Turkey to be Overseas Property Hotspot in 2011

Write About Property’s Liam Bailey has predicted that Turkey property will be the hottest overseas property investment in 2011. Bailey pointed out his surprise that he would do so, having been a staunch member of the “Turkey-needs-EU-membership” brigade until this year.

Bailey cited the excellent fiscal management by the AK party, which has focussed on paying down public debt even while its neighbours and competitors (Greece, Portugal, Spain) were running up huge tabs. On top of that, the banking reforms made after the Turkish financial crisis in 2001 left them able to withstand the crisis.

This left Turkey in a strong position when the crisis struck, because liquidity was high, and it was also able to lower interest rates as a measure of budgetary management rather than purely a alarmist way of fighting of the crisis. This calm, measured response increased the confidence of investors,

But, said Bailey, "what really sums up present day Turkey vis-a-vis worthiness as a property investment destination, with or without EU accession, is the great irony of Turkey ending its reliance on IMF assistance less than 1 year before Greece and Ireland would need such assistance.

"The balance of stability, high growth, high liquidity, low property prices and low interest rates is sure to make Turkey property a favourite with investors in 2011," he said.

Bailey said in other statements that Istanbul property was one of the top choices with pure investors, which are becoming more common in the Turkish property market, on top of the already strong holiday property market.

Costa Rica Setting out its Stall to Attract Foreign Investment

The predictions are in for a 6% growth in the Costa Rican economy next year, amid a determination by the government to cut through red tape and spend heavily on turning potential growth into sustainable growth with investment in infrastructure and socio-economic development projects, including superhighways, other construction and pro-growth incentive packages.

Costa Rica is very much committed to enticing investment and business from abroad as well, in fact so much so that China has invested massively in developing the Costa Rican infrastructure as it sees the Latin American country becoming one of its main trading partners.

Costa Rica also has a massively growing tourism sector. According to official figures the sector has been growing at 8% per year for the last 10 years, and recently it has become a massive hit with the growing wave of eco-tourists, which looks set to accelerate growth further still.

The country has two major international airports, and the completion of new motorways means it now takes just one hour to get from the capital city of San Jose to the town of Jaco on the coast. English is widely spoken in this country making property transactions much easier to understand. These factors will continue to increase the number of visitors and the need for accommodation.

Foreigners are also, not only allowed but encouraged to buy property in Costa Rica, where they enjoy the same legal protection and rights as Costa Rican citizens. Another incentive is the lack of effect from the financial crisis felt in Costa Rica, due to the fact that there was no indulgence in the sub-prime game of Russian Roulette that western banks played and lost.

That said: property prices in Costa Rica did fall slightly, but this was as a result of a drop in buyers from the US and Canada as fear set in into 2009, but now fear is subsiding the buyers are returning.

Investment Growing in London Property Market

Last month the London area experienced an increase in property investment activity after a long five months of stagnation. Perhaps this is the beginning of a renewed interest in foreigners seeking to make real estate investments, which would make the owners of luxurious residential properties very happy.

It seems that Britain’s residential property market is a booming market right now. With countries such as Greece, Ireland, Portugal, and Eastern Europe experiencing a debt crisis, investors are eyeing London and seem to have increased confidence in the investment potential and significant rate of return of British properties.

According to Knight Frank, November saw a greater demand for luxury property but the amount of properties decreased, creating a competitive edge among real estate investors. It seems that now is the time to get an affordable investment.

A 9 percent increase in residential property values increased in November for homes that cost one million pounds or more. Growth has been evident all year with an 11 percent increase in luxury property prices, tempting investors to capitalize on the stable and growing property market.

It has been reported that there was a 23 percent increase in the amount of continental Europeans who were interested in buying residential properties in London since last year. Out of all the purchases in Central London, 60 percent of the buyers were foreign investors. With prices remaining at 14 percent lower than the last time they peaked before the financial crisis, it is no surprise that overseas investment in the London area is so popular this year.

32,000 Brits Own Property in Turkey

32,000 British people own property in Turkey. Fact. Collectively they own 6 million square meters of Turkish land. Fact.

These figures are not an estimate, they are the official figures recently released by the Turkish General Directorate of Land Registry.

The data shows that the British are by far the biggest overseas buyers of Turkish property. According to the figures foreign buyers own 65 million square meters of Turkish land, with 6 million square meters Brits own almost twice the amount of land that Germans -- the second biggest owners -- do at 3.5 million square meters. Surprisingly Greeks are the next biggest owners with 3 million square meters.

Note the lack of Russian buyers in the top 3. A recent chart by the largest Russian language overseas property portal showed that Turkish property is third most popular with Russian buyers, which are currently millions strong.

According to New Home in Turkey the number of Russian buyers as well as those from eastern European and Baltic states are growing, but it will be maybe 5 - 10 years before they overtake Brits and Germans in the Turkish market, if ever.

Director of the firm Aydin Cakir said:

"Since the Turkish property market opened to foreign buyers in 2002, and then further in 2005, British buyers have always dominated the market. While Germans are the largest tourism market, Brits are more prolific buyers of holiday homes, with a much larger proportion of tourists buying property in a given country. Russian numbers are growing, but it will be at least 5-10 years before they overtake British and German buyers, and they may never do so."