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March Top of the Props

Tuesday, April 07, 2009

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.

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. 

Whilst the Spanish economy was faltering after ten years of boomtime, with house prices stalling after years of meteoric rises; food and oil prices rose, meaning Spanish locals were in trouble, businesses were shutting down and homes were being repossessed. This has meant that opportunities for bargain hunters and cash buyers are ten-a-penny.

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 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.

In the first quarter of last year, Eurostar carried over two million passengers, an increase of over 21 per cent on the corresponding period in 2007.

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.

Other movers and shakers

February's winner Italy had to make do with third place on March's Top of the Props chart. Spain swooped in to take second place, proving that the Spanish market - saturated with a glut of properties - is still offering exceptional deals to some investors, especially those who are taking a long term view or are buying with cash.

Turkey made it into fifth place on March's list, followed by the UAE in sixth place and Portugal in seventh. Surprise entry Sri Lanka nabbed eighth place, tailed by Brazil in ninth place. Egypt sneaked in to take the final place on the chart at number ten.

March Top of the Props chart

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Overall Enquiry Volume for March 2009
Rank	Country	Share	Change	Comment
1	USA	18.75	Up 1	1 month in top spot
2	Spain	9.08	Up 2
3	Italy	6.8	Down 2
4	France	4.69	Up 2
5	Turkey	4.24	Up 3
6	UAE	3.89	Down 1
7	Portugal	3.47	Up 3
8	Sri Lanka	3.35	Up 28	Highest climber And New to top 10!
9	Brazil	3.06	Non-mover
10	Egypt	3.03	Down 3
11	Cyprus	2.91	Up 1
12	Bulgaria	2.23	Down 9
13	Germany	2.08	Down 2
14	Thailand	1.96	Non-mover
15	Greece	1.54	Non-mover
16	Australia	1.19	Up 24
17	New Zealand	1.04	Up 20
18	Dominican Republic	0.98	Down 5
19	Argentina	0.89	Up 14
20	Morocco	0.89	Up 2
21	India	0.77	Up 3
22	Canada	0.68	Up 3
23	Sweden	0.65	Down 3
24	Montenegro	0.65	Up 3
25	Malaysia	0.62	Up 3
26	Barbados	0.59	Down 8
27	Malta	0.47	Up 17
28	Cayman Islands	0.45	Up 15
29	Panama	0.39	Down 6
30	Bahamas	0.36	Down 13
31	Romania	0.36	Down 5
32	Poland	0.33	Non-mover
33	Cape Verde	0.3	Down 3
34	Croatia	0.27	Down 18	Biggest faller
35	Switzerland	0.24		Highest New Entry
36	Hungary	0.21	Down 7
37	Tunisia	0.21	Down 6
38	Philippines	0.18	Down 4
39	South Africa	0.12	Up 9
40	Slovakia	0.12	Down 5

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Picture by byrdiegyrl

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