UK property investment up 21 per cent

June 30, 2008 by OPPE News

British overseas property investment shot up by 21 per cent last year, statistics show. Figures from the Association of International Property Professionals (AIPP) say in 2007 the British spent a massive £246 billion on homes abroad.

Property investment company Obelisk also revealed the newer markets of Bulgaria, Turkey and Romania are catching up with the likes of Spain on the list of property investment choices, although the latter still holds more than a 25 per cent share of the market.

France weighed in at second with 17 per cent and the US was third with 9.7 per cent. AIPP chief executive Paul Owen, said:

“The choice available to the buyers is vast but big markets, even fast-changing ones like this, are relatively slow to make enormous shifts.

“When we add in other established markets like Italy, Portugal and Cyprus, nearly two thirds of property purchases last year were in established, familiar markets.”

However, the group added Bulgaria has been a “trailblazer” in terms of emerging markets, with six per cent of purchases by British buyers made in Bulgaria last year.

Mr Owen added:

“Bulgaria had almost a free ride as the emerging market for two to three years. It certainly made the most of it as it quickly grew market share. What is interesting in the figures for 2007 is that it has held up pretty well in the face of so many new entrants in the ‘emerging market’ category.”