A foreclosed homes specialist has earmarked the Seattle area of the US as a prime property investment spot thanks to “positive key market indicators”.

Default Research said King, Pierce and Snohomish counties within the state saw notice of trustee sales increase to 3,379 in the second quarter of 2008, up from 2,743 in the first quarter. The three hardest hit cities in the region were Tacoma with 464 foreclosures, Seattle with 412, and Puyallap with 191.

Serdar Bankaci, founder of Default Research, said:

“There are a few markets in this tough economy that continue to be solid areas to invest, and Seattle is one.

“Key market indicators are positive with a marginal increase in median home sale prices and a decline in inventories in the past month. If I had a choice of national regions in which to invest, this would be it.”

He added property investors looking to make profit quickly should buy properties at reduced rates and immediately rent them.

Seattle, located in Washington State, is a coastal city with a population of around 600,000 people, with experts predicting this will grow by 200,000 by 2040.

However, the Seattle Times has previously reported Mayor Greg Nickels has leant his support to plans which would see the city’s population grow by 60 per cent to 2040, adding 350,000 people.

Dubai-based super developer Emaar Properties has posted profits of $902 million (£452 million) for the first half of 2008. It also announced its second quarter profits stood at $424 million (£212 million), a growth of seven per cent on the same period last year.

Arabian Business reported the figures were below the predictions of most analysts quoted in a Reuters net profit survey in June. The firm said domestic property sales were the “prime driver” for its profits.

Company chairman Mohamed Ali Alabbar said:

“Globally, the first-half of 2008 was marked by recessionary trends and mounting inflation.

“For a property developer of Emaar’s geographic outreach, this period also meant greater exposure to the market challenges of rising prices and reduced consumer spending.

“However, Emaar’s results for the six months prove the robustness of our long-term strategic Vision 2010 to focus our growth efforts in the emerging markets of the region and Asia.”

The firm’s expansion into China, involving an agreement with Shanghai China-News Enterprise Development, was listed as a high point, as were projects in Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Morocco, Syria and India, all gaining “strong property investor response”.

Scotland’s property market is holding up firmly amid falling prices around the rest of the UK, a report shows. Headlineproperty said figures from providers and industry associations show prices north of the border remain resilient.

Scottish house prices are expected to record a one per cent growth through the rest of this year, outperforming the rest of the UK. Headlineproperty said:

“It barely beggars belief, but there is no escaping the facts. While the rest of the UK property market reels from one bad news story after another, figures confirm that the Scots property market is proving remarkably resilient to the ongoing credit crunch.”

Recent figures from Nationwide showed the average house price in Scotland stands at £149,541, with Aberdeen the UK city with the fifth largest state of growth, three per cent, commanding a hefty average price of £225,124.

Buyer confidence in Scotland is also better than elsewhere, with nearly one in three saying they thought prices would be higher in 12 months time. Within the industry 59 per cent of Scottish agents polled by Headlineproperty said they were confident they wouldn’t see the same house price falls as in the rest of the UK.