Overseas Property Sales Picking Up, Off Plan Appetite Still There

Well, what I have been saying and writing for weeks now, in client content and articles on here, was confirmed by Overseas Property Professional magazine last week.

People are back out there looking at buying overseas property in some real numbers, and as the OPP article revealed; their appetite for discounted off plan opportunities has not been diminished.

That said, the OPP article also revealed that another of my predictions is coming true: today's overseas property buyers is insistent on conducting their own research before laying out any money. Agents and developers are expected to have all possible facts to hand, and be offering affordable inspection visits or they might as well pack up and go home.

In other data revealed last week another of our observations on the current overseas property market was also confirmed.

UK overseas mortgage provider Conti revealed the top 10 destinations that Brits are applying for mortgages in, and the established favourites (Spain, France, Portugal and Italy), accounted for over 66% of all applications.

The only emerging market to come in with a share of over 10% was Turkey, in position 4 with 13%, more than Italy and Portugal.

This is to be expected in a market newly recovering from such a severe downturn. The longer we experience a boom, the bigger investors' appetite for risk becomes. After these risks don't pay off, when the bubble bursts if you like, people's appetite for risk goes down to 0 as people start testing the water again. In fact it is surprising that this hasn't had a bigger effect on off plan sales.