The USA reigned supreme on the TheMoveChannel.com’s March Top of the Props chart, forcing last month’s winner Italy into bronze medal position. But, the majority of countries that made it into the top ten list are relatively close to the UK, suggesting that people are looking closer to home for holiday homes and investment property in the current climate…
Our Top of the Props chart provides a monthly pop chart snapshot of the most popular countries on the site and last month, the USA triumphed, attracting the most interest from visitors to the site.
Italy
Last month’s winner remained in the top three on March’s chart, but had to be content with bronze. The big selling point of properties in Italy, aside from the obvious food and scenery, is the fact that there is no capital gains tax on profits from investment property in Italy, thus creating maximum returns on investment.
Italy also offers investors a readily established EU economy, meaning a quality infrastructure and a stable political environment.
Despite Italy becoming more and more popular with holiday home purchasers and investors, there are still areas in which you can pick up a bargain. Two distinct Italy’s exist today; the prosperous North and the less developed agricultural South.
Previously overlooked, Calabria in Southern Italy has soared in popularity of late, thanks in part to the recent introduction of direct flights from the UK to local airports at Reggio de Calabria and Kamezia.
If you can’t shake off that Tuscan dream but can’t quite stretch your budget to match, how about looking for a cheaper version of Tuscany’s undulating hills and olive groves?
Le Marche, close to Ancona and Rimini International airports in Central Italy, is a credit crunch alternative to Tuscany – and I mean that in the nicest possible way.
It’s true storybook Italy, with terracotta tiles, lemon trees and a real sense of the traditional Italian way of life that seems to have all but disappeared in some of the better known hotpots.
Spain
Spain ranked highly on March’s chart, in second place, despite (or more likely because) having been one of the markets most affected by the credit crisis.
Property in Spain has long been the number one European destination for British buyers and hundreds of thousands of Britons already own property there. But, due to the property boom having come to an end, the property market is now saturated with apartments that won’t sell and developers that are desperate to offload them.
Therein lies the opportunity for investors looking to snap up a bargain. The more keen developers are to sell, the more of a bargain buyers will be able to get.
Estate agent SpanishHotProperties.com claims distressed homes currently represent the ‘best value’ in the country for those looking to buy a home abroad.
France
France took fourth place in March’s Top of the Props chart. The most recent figures released by the French Tourism Ministry show that a whopping 82 million foreign tourists visited France last year.
As more and more British people look to holiday closer to home, the tourist numbers will only increase and therefore an investment French property will likely have very strong rental potential.
For international investors, the French market is a well trodden path as it’s so well established and professional advice and assistance is readily available.
As people are less likely to want to take risks with their money in an ailing market, they will be keen to invest in a secure market such as France as the country has a solid history of strong rental and sale returns over the years and looks set to remain a holiday hotspot.
The high-speed Eurostar service from Waterloo and St Pancras stations has resulted in a substantial increase in accessibility to France and visitor numbers have increased alongside this.
French natives are also choosing to stay closer to home – French ski resorts were almost full for the ski season, indicating that a ski property could be a great investment.
For more information on American properties and the market in general, please visit http://usa.themovechannel.com/
-ENDS-
Notes to editors:
TheMoveChannel.com is a property website that was founded in 1999 as an online resource for buying, selling and learning about property. It now receives as many as 300,000 visits per month and advertises over 50,000 properties in nearly 90 countries, which are listed by over 500 partner organisations.
For further information as well as images and interview possibilities, please contact:
Dan Johnson
Managing Director
www.themovechannel.com
0207 952 7650
