Russia's Property Market Still to Make a Comeback

The property market in Russia underwent a huge boom between 2000 and 2007, and prices increased by around 436%, but property prices began to weaken towards the end of 2008 and to decline during the second quarter of 2009. House prices are still declining, even though the rate is slowing.

Although prices of resale apartments increased by 3.79% to the year ending the second quarter of 2011, when adjusted for inflation prices actually declined by 5.25%. In Moscow resale apartment prices fell by 5.38% after being adjusted for inflation, but in St Petersburg prices fell by a massive 15.23% after being adjusted for inflation.

Part of the problem is that the ruble has depreciated significantly against the US dollar, and was down from RUB23.36 in July 2008 to RUB35.82 in February 2009. This massive fall meant those who had already committed to buy or rent property had to raise around 50% more cash, putting pressure on the housing market which contributed to its crash in 2009.

By July 2010 the exchange rate had recovered somewhat and stood at around RUB30.76 to 1 US dollar, and according to the IMF the ruble is undervalued by up to 21% against the dollar and by 15% against the euro, and is expected to recover over the next few months to a year.

Private ownership of property has been allowed by citizens and foreigners since 2001 and since 2006 in Moscow, but Moscow has the dubious distinction of being amongst the world's most expensive cities for expatriates to live in.

Confidence Returning in UK Property

According to the latest Zoopla.co.uk Housing Market Sentiment Survey, there is a returning of confidence to the property market as about two-thirds of homeowners stated that they anticipate property prices to increase over the next six months. Last year about 50 percent believed that the property prices would increase.

In comparison with a third of people in December who thought that prices would fall, only a quarter expect prices to fall now. More optimism abounds now concerning the amount that prices will increase. Out of 7,984 people surveyed, people predicted that prices in their area will increase by 2.8 percent within the next six months, which is a 1.9 increase from three months ago.

Northern Ireland saw the greatest improvement, in which 57 percent of homeowners anticipated property prices to increase. This is a 42 percent increase from three months ago. Scotland also saw respondents anticipate high gains at 63 percent.

With the last nine months experiencing steady declining prices, Nicolas Leeming from Zoopla.co.uk states that this may be a good sign that the property market is on the upward swing.

There is a low inventory of homes currently and homeowners are continuing to anticipate prices to increase in their areas. The confidence levels are not the same as they were in early 2010, but the improvement is being received well and increasing optimism.

Many real estate experts anticipate about a 2 percent decrease in property prices in 2011 as a whole and many are quite optimistic that the property market will have a favorable year.

Spanish Property Benefits from Construction Decrease

Spain's property market is benefitting from a decrease in new home construction in 2010. A decrease of 33 percent has been reported from 2009 to 2010, according to the latest statistics from the Government.

A 60 percent decrease in Spain property construction completions have occurred from 641,419 new homes in 2007 to 257,443 new homes in 2010. This is largely due to a decrease in demand for residential properties.

Planning approvals have also declined according to research, as they hit an all-time low of 91,662 last year. This is an indication that less and less homes will be coming onto the market for the short to medium future.

Spain has been experiencing a great oversupply of homes across many regions of the country, so a slowing down in property construction was necessary to balance things out. Since Spain’s property market peaked in late 2006, property prices have decreased by up to 60 percent.

There are around one million unsold homes on the market in Spain currently. Despite the large number of homes, some house builders, such as Polaris World, are still planning on building new homes this year. Property experts do not believe that this is a good idea, as the market is best when supply vs. demand is more balanced.

With the large number of unsold properties at affordable prices, the amount of overseas investors has increased. Investors are very interested in capitalizing on the oversupply to fatten their investment portfolios in the hopes of high returns on their investments in the years to come.

Spanish Property Market Shows Signs of Improving

Spain joins various other countries beginning to see more favorable property market conditions this New Year. Statistics revealed by the Ministry and Public Works and Transport of Spain, Spain’s real estate market is experiencing noticeable growth, which is a good sign that it is indeed recovering from the financial crisis.

Backing this growth is data from Spain’s government regarding total property sales in 2010. 491,000 real estate transactions occurred in 2010, which is 5.9 percent higher than the previous year. Since the financial crisis began in 2008, Spain’s fourth quarter of 2010 experienced the most market success, with figures coming in at 14.2 percent. Experts look favorably on this jump and anticipate the growth to continue throughout 2011.

Spain is also becoming more popular with overseas buyers, as overseas transactions have jumped 20.6 percent. The Alicante province is of particular interest among foreign buyers, as the number of sales increased by 24.3 percent. An additional 11 autonomies have reported that apartment sales have increased, while 6 areas indicate that demand is decreasing.

Basque County reports a 30 percent increase in growth, while Murcia reported 16.3 percent. Popular beach destinations such as Costa del Sol and Costa Blanca have reported increases as well, with Costa del Sol increasing 7.5 percent. Andalusia is currently Spain’s largest real estate market, with 88,000 transactions recorded, followed by Valencia, Catalonia, and the region of Madrid.

Spain is experiencing a growth in tourism as well, which will help with property market growth. Local real estate agents believe that 2011 will experience greater growth and stability and have a favorable year.

Colombia tipped for growth

Colombia has been tipped for growth since 2009 when the acronym CIVETS was coined by the Global Forecasting Director, Robert Ward for the Economist Intelligence Unit. The acronym stands for Colombia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Egypt, Turkey and South Africa. These countries were singled out for attention because they have a young population, have managed to control inflation and have a relatively sophisticated banking system already in place.

This is certainly true of Columbia, and out of all these countries it has the best infrastructure already in place which will enable rapid economic growth. It has also managed to achieve consistent GDP growth for over 70 years and has never experienced hyperinflation, and in fact inflation has been kept within single digit figures since 1999. The GDP growth from 2002 to 2007 averaged out at 5% a year which was mainly due to increased foreign investment, export growth and reforms in the energy sectors. The country has large mineral and energy reserves, especially coal and natural gas.

Columbia has managed to triple its exports during the last six years which was largely due to the Andean Trade Promotion and Drug Eradication Act. During this time period exports grew from $13 million in 2003 to $32 million in 2009. It has successfully increased tourism numbers even at the height of the global recession. Tourism numbers throughout the world fell by 4% in 2009 while in Colombia it increased to 10.2% in the same year. The Columbian government actively encourages overseas investors as it is looking to increase business opportunities within international markets.

US Housing Recovery on the Cards

Some experts say that the United States is on the way to a housing recovery as home affordability is returning to pre-bubble levels in more and more cities in America.

Home values have fallen 2.6 percent in the last quarter and such a significant drop has not been seen since the first quarter of 2009. Moody’s Analytics tracks the ratio of median home prices to yearly household incomes in 74 markets. According to their data, housing affordability is about the same now as it was between 1989 and 2003 in 47 of those markets. It is believed by most finance experts that the housing boom began in 2003.

It was during the boom that house prices increased greatly due to lax lending and inflation. This increase was greater than the average increase in household income, thus the ratio of home prices to yearly household income peaked in 2005 at 2.3 percent. Since September of 2010, it has dropped to 1.6 percent, which mirrored the lowest level in 35 years.

Chief economist at Moody’s Analytics, Mark Zandi, states that these are very affordable prices for people based on incomes. Home price declines are drawing buyers back into the market and especially property investors.

According to other economists and housing analysts, further declines in home values between 5 to 10 percent may occur by late this year or early next year. With such a decrease, most believe that this will be the bottom and that prices will begin their increase from there.

Spanish property market picking up

Recent research into the Spanish property market indicates that it will recover before the economy which is the reverse of what usually happens. Developers in the country are increasingly optimistic with Taylor Wimpey de Espana reporting an increase of 25% in the number of properties sold in 2010 when compared to 2009. This has resulted in most of the stock being sold.

Customer enquiries increased by 27% in the third quarter of 2010 and primarily came from people looking for retirement and holiday homes. This increase in sales and interest has prompted Taylor Wimpey to start development in three new sites in Spain where 30% of the properties have been sold off plan already.

Spain will always remain a hugely popular country for British holidaymakers and those looking to retire there or to purchase second homes, and although the downturn did affect demand homes in sought after locations are continuing to sell well. These include homes in the Costa del Sol and Marbella. Although the Spanish government has reported a glut of homes for sale in less popular regions some Spanish property developers are refuting these numbers. Official reports say there are about 1 million unsold properties whereas the developers say there are just 350,000 unsold homes.

It remains to be seen which reports are true and many believe that rental yields here will continue to fall before picking up later on in the year. But if the property market here is beginning to turn around and then investors might wish to begin researching seriously now before the traditional upturn in house sales in the spring.

Slovakia property market bottomed out

As Slovakia continues to recover from the economic downturn house prices appear to have bottomed out, and are down 15.8% from their peak prices. Property increased in value here from 2006 to 2008 with rises averaging from 14% to 35% annually. Although prices appear to have bottomed out consumer demand is still weak and may be affected by rising unemployment levels.

During the downturn in the economy contracted by 4.7% but is now recovering as it grew by 3.8% during the third quarter in 2010. Interest rates in Slovakia are quite favourable as they declined throughout 2010; however the banks remain cautious about lending. A new government was elected in June 2010 and is expected to be good news for the economy as it has promised to return the country to the high growth rates it previously enjoyed and has also pledged to reduce the budget deficit.

At its highest point the economy grew by 10.58% in 2007 and is estimated to have grown by 4.1% in 2010. While analysts believe the outlook for Slovakia is good they do not think that property prices here will increase rapidly, but that the growth will be slow and sustainable. Rental yields on property here are also quite low as although the system used to be rent-controlled it was abolished in 2005 but the decree was never implemented. It remains to be seen if the new government is willing to tackle such a sensitive issue.

Slovakia was formerly part of Czechoslovakia and is considered a very stable and liberal economy having undergone eight years of reforms under the centre right coalition which was led by Mikulas Dzurinda. These reforms earned it international praise and undoubtedly helped smooth its entry into NATO and the EU.

Vietnam appealing to foreign investors

Vietnam is becoming more appealing to foreign investors and was recently ranked fourth in the world of emerging global real estate markets by the Association of Foreign Investors in Real Estate. This influential group collectively holds more than $627 billion of property throughout the world. While Brazil, China and India were still in the top three places Vietnam was a surprise fourth having previously been unranked in 2010.

Much of the increased appeal is thought to be due to the rapid growth of the property market and Vietnams open door policy to foreign investors. The second largest tower in Asia is due to be built this year in the capital of Hanoi and will cost $1.2 billion, and new construction is beginning to take place throughout the country. Vietnam has enjoyed strong economic growth and aims to become an industrialised country within the next 10 years.

However the governing Communist Party realises the need to restructure the economy and to speed up the growth which started some 25 years ago. Some of these state owned enterprises have grown too fast and are suffering from poor infrastructure and an unskilled workforce which is something that has been recognised by the governing party and which they are determined to address.

These factors look unlikely to deter foreign investors who view the economy as having recovered well from the global recession. Urban centres are likely to increase and to attract overseas companies which will aid the current rapid growth of middle-class citizens who are most likely to want to spend their new found wealth on new homes.

Property prices in the Philippines recover

Property prices in the Philippines are recovering due to overseas workers sending money home to buy houses. Prices had dropped since the economic downturn leading many to see an opportunity for a bargain; this has caught many industry specialists unawares as no one expected such a fast rebound. While property sales in 2008 and 2009 totalled P100 billion, this figure is expected to triple this year as rising demand increases prices.

About 10% of the population work abroad and the money they send home is equal to more than 10% of the annual GDP. This percentage is set to increase as more and more Filipinos are securing higher paid jobs in the media, engineering and medicine. The money they earn abroad can secure them a middle-class lifestyle at home, but the salaries in the Philippines are currently much lower than those that can be earned by working abroad.

How much longer this will continue remains to be seen as the demand for luxury homes in the Philippines is increasing as the Asian Pacific economy continues to boom. One of the top places to buy homes in the Philippines is Makati as many multinational corporations based here leading to strong rental returns. The close proximity of all amenities combined with safe neighbourhoods has made this area extremely popular.

The economy here is thought to have grown by 7% in 2010, with last year's peaceful elections boosting investor confidence. The sound economic platform combined with low interest rates and an expected ratings upgrade by the international agencies is beginning to attract a lot of foreign investment.

Housing Market in Bangkok Still Expected to Grow

The housing market in Bangkok experienced rapidly rising prices during the first half of last year which were mainly attributed to Government incentives which came to an end last March. Prices increased in spite of political unrest in April and May which did not cause panic selling although it did delay some projects. Many new housing developments were begun last year, and although prices are expected to continue increasing they will not rise as rapidly as last year. Surveys have shown that that there is not an oversupply in the Bangkok condominium market and that property investment is can be expected to give an average total yield of 11.5 % per year.

New regulations brought in this month prohibit banks from lending more than 90% of the value on new condominiums costing less than 10,000 baht. These measures were brought in to deter property speculators who were finding the terms just too attractive to resist. Condominiums in the city have an average 21% vacancy rate, although investors should do their research thoroughly as some areas are showing much higher occupancy rates. Ramkhamhaeng has an occupancy rate of 91% and gives a total yield of 11.7%. Occupancy in Ratchada-Lat Phrao is 86% and gives a total yield of 11.9%.

The most popular properties are one-bedroom units with the market for larger units being slower. These larger units may offer some appeal to investors as developers have been offering extra incentives such as furniture packages and guaranteed yields. Demand has remained high enough to deter developers from offering discounts.

Canadian House Prices Set to Rise

Canadian house prices look set to rise due to continuing low interest rates and a strengthening economic recovery. Prices have risen between 3.9% and 4.6% in the previous three months and are expected to rise nationally by 3% this year. Vancouver used to be the property hotspot of the country but with the average price for a standard two-storey house being over $1 million many buyers are choosing to look elsewhere. It is expected that many mid-size towns and cities will be targeted by buyers looking to get more for their money, and a lot of these areas are able to boast of low unemployment rates and good economic prospects.

Winnipeg is a city that is expected to perform especially well this year with property prices predicted to rise by up to 7%. Some of the reasons for this include good public sector employment, a growing agricultural economy and a solid manufacturing base. Housing here is also in short supply and the rising population is expected to boost prices further. The average house price in Canada is currently $348,600, whereas the average house price in Winnipeg is still less than $300,000. Other areas expected to well include Calgary and Edmonton which is largely due to the Alberta oil sands.

In spite of its close proximity to the states Canada has weathered the recent economic downturn better than some other countries. This is largely due to its more cautious banking practices which have recently been closely examined by the UK as a model to follow. Anyone wishing to invest here should definitely consider looking at the less popular cities.

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.

UK Housing Market Bottoming Out???

Oh my god, I thought I had seen it all in the press coverage of the UK housing market boom bust boom bust, but I have been proven wrong yet again.

In the This is Money publication one Adrian Lowery writes:

"House prices fell 0.7% in the three months to November compared to the same period last year, figures revealed today - the first fall on that measure since November last year. But Halifax also said prices dipped just 0.1% last month, encouraging hopes that the housing market is bottoming out."

Bottoming OUT??? How can a market that has only just started a fresh round of falls be bottoming out?

UK house prices fell sharply in 2008, but started rising in March 2009. In March 2009, after many months of falling prices totalling a decline of between 10% and 20% depending on the index, claims that the rises showed the market was bottoming out were at least plausible it not particularly well founded.

Well founded or not, fuelled by weak supply as people kept their houses off the market rather than pay the £100 required to get a HIP rise UK house prices did, and until August this year they did, again depending on the index. So now, with some indexes only registering falls for one or two months we can't say bottom out? Even if the minor falls recorded by the Halifax are the last falls we see they would only be showing that the market is levelling off, not bottoming out.

Maybe I am being a bit harsh, but I wish writers would engage their reason operators before opening their ledger.

Now is the Time to Invest in Overseas Property

If you’re interested in purchasing real estate around the world, now is the time to do it.  House prices have been sinking for quite awhile, and though that is not good for sellers, it is good news for buyers interested in committing to a sound investment over the next ten or more years.

According to Global Property Guide (globalpropertyguide.com), there has been a 15 to 18 % drop in house prices in the UK, which raises the eyebrows of potential foreign and at home investors.

Nick Barnes, who is the head of international research at Knight Frank, states that now is the time for those interested in buying their dream home in their dream location.  In some highly sought after locations, house prices have decreased up to 40%. 

The consensus is that despite falling prices now, investors are optimistic that the property market value of homes will make a steady increase over the next ten to fifteen years. 

Some of the hot spots for potential purchases are France, Spain, and Italy.
In France, the hot spots are Normandy, Brittany, the Dordogne, and the Cote d’Azur.  A 7.5% drop in house prices last year makes France a great choice for many British buyers overseas.

According to Mark Stucklin, head of Spanishpropertyinsight.com, house prices in Spain have dropped at least 20%, making it a prime time to look for investment opportunities.  Many newly built properties, even on the beach, sit empty just waiting for occupants.  Some prices have been slashed up to 40% in attempts to sell.

Italy is seeing price cuts as well.  Tuscany is a favored vacation and living area and prices have not dropped dramatically, but they have decreased enough to take notice.  Northern Tuscany, the Lakes region, and Venice have all seen prices cut up to about 20%.

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."

Alanya Property Dominating Sales to Foreigners

Almost 25% of all Turkish properties sold to foreigners in the last five years have been in Alanya, according to local paper Alanya Adres.

Quoting figures from the Turkish land registry, the paper revealed that of 88,900 properties purchased by 100,623 foreigners from 44 countries in the last five years, some 17,000 of them were in Alanya.

Brits and Germans were most prolific, with the British buying most. According to the data some 30,710 Brits bought 21,321 properties in Turkey in the last 5 years, while 21.678 Germans purchased 26.365 properties.

It is always great to get hold of data like this from Turkey. The last data we saw came in 2006, when we learned that foreigners had purchased 5,556 units in Antalya Province (of which Alanya belongs) as of June 1st.

According to another recent report from the Turkish General Directorate of Land Registry, Brits now own some 6 million square meters of Turkish land, totalling 32,000 properties.

Alanya is home to the largest population of British expats, and surprisingly it is a very immature market with respect exposure to the overseas property market.

This is because Alanya is 90 minutes away from the Antalya international airport. Those who move to Turkey needn't care about such a small distance from the airport, but for those only able to spend short amounts of time in their holiday home, this would make them consider destinations much closer to an international airport.

Now that the airport at Gazipasa, just outside Alanya has opened and is currently being expanded to accept international flights, it is expected that developers will increase their focus on developing Alanya to the same level as many other Turkish towns.

Given the clear pulling power of Alanya property clear pulling power as displayed above, this is a very exciting time indeed for the town.

Thanks to New Home in Turkey for bringing this report to our attention.

Europe Needs Turkey as Much as Turkey Needs Europe Says Wulff

Europe "needs Turkey as much as Turkey needs Europe."

Not a statement you'd expect from the President of Germany, given the country's staunch and long standing objection to Turkey's accession into the European Union, but that is exactly what he said.

"We can complement each other in many ways and collaborate for the solution of problems in the Middle East Caucasus and the Balkans," said Wulff, Speaking at a dinner hosted by Turkish President Abdullah Gul in his honour at the Dolmabahce Palace in Istanbul.

He also said:

"Turkey is an important partner for Germany, one with self confidence. However there is yet much we can and must do to enhance the mutual understanding. Building the bridges and promoting the dialogue we aspire, through projects within the scope of the Ernst Reuter Initiative, is my personal desire and our common goal."

"Turkey, with its growing weight in the world, is a very important partner for us in climate change policies, in counter-terrorism, and finance market regulation. Therefore, I shall work within my full capacity to enhance German-Turkish partnership and brotherhood," said Wulff.

The statements came just a few days after a partial visa-free deal between Turkey and Portugal was announced. The deal will cover only citizens that hold a special passport, and will only allow travel for up to 90 days every six months. It still has to be ratified by parliaments on both sides.

These can only be called significant steps in Turkey's process of joining the EU. We have written many times on this blog that EU accession has become less necessary for Turkey in recent times, but we also agree with an article in The economist saying that while EU entry may be a long, long way off, aspiring and reforming towards it are good for Turkey and should continue.

EU Accession No Longer Vital to Turkey’s Interests

This week David Cameron called Turkey the BRIC of Europe, but still we expect no progress on the EU issue. This week French foreign minister Bernard Koucher pledged France’s support for Turkey, but still we should expect no progress on the EU issue. The EU will publish a review of Turkey’s progess towards joining the EU, we expect it to show little progress on the EU issue. Until France, Germany and others remove their block, which won’t happen until Turkey opens its ports to Greece, which won’t happen until and so on and so forth – suffice to say we are firmly in the land of deadlock.

But the fact is the Turkish economy grew by more than 10% in the first half of this year, and is predicted to grow 7.5% for the year as a whole, that is growth that Europe’s developed economies like France and Germany can only dream of.

According to a report by HSBC this week emerging markets will be on top of the world table of purchasing power parity within three years; three years during which they will drive the global economic recovery. Turkey was mentioned in the report as one of the biggest drivers of growth. Investment in Turkey is increasing at a rapid rate, including property investment.

EU accession is no longer vital to Turkey’s interests.

This is a common sentiment, in a Hurriyet Daily News article this week titled Forget the EU, RICHARD REID wrote:

In any case, Europe’s closed door may be irrelevant to Turkey’s general prospects. At the moment the country’s global image is one of rude health. Admiring eyebrows are being raised in the capitals that count. Turkey is no longer a minor player. Its momentum should before long carry it to a point where Europeans will be the suitors. And then Turkey can ask them to wait.

EU membership is “no longer such a big deal” for Turkey says Tolga OZCAN, director of Antalya real estate agent New Home in Turkey.

“The Turkish economy enjoyed double-digit growth in both the first and second quarters, with 11.7% growth in the first quarter and 10.3% in the second quarter, compared to growth of 0.7% and 2% respectively for the EU27,” he said. “During this time the biggest growth was recorded in Slovakia with 4.6% in Q1 and 5% in Q2.”

He continued: “On top of that the European banking infrastructure is in disarray, with severe doubts over exactly what levels of bad loans still exist in Spanish, German, Irish and other banks. Compare this to Turkey’s banking system, which, heavily reformed in 2001 is in incredibly good shape.”

Turkish Property 3rd Most Searched for on Russian Portal

Number 1 Russian overseas property portal has published search data revealing that Turkey is the third most popular.

Experts say that the current dominance of low budget buyers is skewing the figures but I don't buy it. The data is based on the number of searches conducted by Russians currently searching for property on the portal, therefore it is inherently an accurate measure of popularity with Russian buyers. It is also confirmed by Turkish estate agents.

"British buyers are no longer the dominant force," says Aydin Cakir, director of New Home in Turkey. "We have been seeing Russian buyers overtaking them for some time and our findings are now confirmed by the 1-property.ru."

Before the crash, there was a lot of talk about the growing number of Russian buyers, and even of them overtaking British buyers in 2008. But then, despite many predictions that Russia would avoid recession, the global downturn struck Russia, and Russian buyers dried up just as British buyers did.

Now though, the Russian rebound is gathering pace as it once again becomes one of the world's hottest emerging markets. Meanwhile Britain is struggling to grow, and stuck in the quagmire of deep austerity measures. Millions of public sector workers are fearful of their jobs, as we know millions of jobs are to go, but no one knows when, how many and in how many chops.

Alanya is the top Turkish region with Russian buyers according to the 1-property.ru data, followed by Antalya, Belek, Kemer and Kusadasi.