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21st March 2007 Hot Property Information Buying a property abroad is no longer the preserve of the rich and famous, it is believed that as many as 30% of Brits have considered either buying a second home abroad, or selling up and moving altogether. Brits have seen substantial increases in the equity value of  their homes and many European countries with there open spaces and warmer climates seem very appealing.   Spain and France are of course perennially popular there are now some 250,000 Brits owing property abroad and this is set to increase further in the coming years. Although property prices in many European countries have seen some dramatic increases in recent years, they are still lagging behind the United Kingdom and many first time buyers who cannot afford to get on the property ladder here are purchasing property  abroad, in the hope that they can ride the wave, sell up and be able to get on the ladder in Britain. Statistics show that half of overseas purchases in recent years have cost less than £100,000.  With the recent admission to the European Union, purchases are starting to be made in Bulgaria, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia and Lithuania  but according to investment specialist Assetz, a company that charts house price growth in the United Kingdom as well as overseas, it's the Polish market that is currently on fire. In the first three months of this year, Poland has seen a massive 165% return and looks set to continue to do so. Strangely enough, at the other end of the scale prices in Germany were stagnant and in some cases prices were falling. However, there are stirrings of activity and there have recently been a number of property exhibitions in London offering property in Berlin.  Bulgaria, has proved very popular of late and there seems to be a never ending list of properties for sale with many advertisements in the newspaper property sections Bulgaria has  seen many British first time buyers move in to the markets, buying substantial amounts of  cheap property, recent reports suggest though  that the Bulgarian market is beginning to turn its focus on to more expensive properties and wants to cast off its cheap property image.    Whilst many people are using these more esoteric European markets in the hope of buying cheap property to get a footing on the property ladder, it is Spain which still leads the way. It's still the country that most people would like to retire to and many investors are adding to there portfolios buying up properties often for rental purposes and perhaps to use as Holiday Homes. The Spanish market is considered safe, it is well developed,  stable and it is fairly easy to obtain finance for property there. The British simply love Spain and many, homeowners have released Equity from their homes to purchase property.   Interest rates are lower than in the United Kingdom, making property more affordable but prices in certain regions of Spain may now have peaked.  Certainly, there has been a fair amount of bad publicity regarding the sale of Spanish property in the last twelve months and anyone considering a purchase should look to obtain the best legal advice possible.  Property prices on the Costa region are now pushing a lot of people to purchase further inland and many new " Golf " style developments are springing up away from the traditional coastal areas.       back to top   Copyright Assetsure Limited 2007