Global property market edges towards recovery

According to Jones Lang LaSalle’s latest report showed that the global property market is edging towards recovery. investment volumes climbed back up to $108 billion in the second quarter of 2012 after a dip in activity in the first quarter. This now means that capital markets are back on track to volumes of around $400 billion by the end of the year.

Global economic outlook weakened as euro strains re-emerged, while low growth in developed economies remains a drag on a strong real estate recovery. Corporate occupiers adopted a wait and see approach to expansion, with sale and leaseback activity increasing as corporate looked to release capital.

Leasing activity still remains lower than 2011 due to weak jobs growth despite having improved from the first quarter dip. As a result, gross leasing volumes across 2012 are expected to be 10% below 2011.
Global office vacancy rates are now the lowest since 2009 at 13.3%, while vacancy continues to decrease.

If you are tempted by the prospect of taking advantage of the overseas property market and are looking into investing in property overseas visit Conti Overseas Mortgages atwww.mortgagesoverseas.com
OR if you are looking for a home in the UK and need conveyancing? visit us at www.helpfulconveyancing.co.uk for all your conveyancing solutions!!

Still a Large Demand for New Zealand Property

There’s still a huge amount of interest in Luxury New Zealand property (especially in Auckland) as demand continues to be larger than supply. At the beginning of August the quantity of available homes for sale in the high end sector was at it’s lowest amount for almost 7 years, a New Zealand estate agent has reported.

The agent’s average selling price was $591,444 over 998 individual house sales. They stated that the relatively small number of house sales is due to a large turnover instead of houses not being listed. There was a 23.3% increase in property listing in July, compared to the same month of last year, as well as a sales increase of 28.3% between the same time period.

For 5 consecutive months this estate agent has viewed falling house sale rates, helping to establish a market where people are eager to take action in as short a time as possible. When taking into account the stable house prices, the amount of house being sold is incredible.

The average sales price increased by just over $2,000 in July compared to June, and the overall price difference between May and July is around $9,000, an increase of less than 2%. Sales of properties costing in excess of $1 million are continuing to increase, as 82 properties were sold within this price range in July compared to 50 during the same month last year. Although higher value properties are proving to be extremely popular, around half of all sales are for homes costing less than $500,000.

If you are interested in the New Zealand property market, want to buy a house in New Zealand or if you want to take out a mortgage in New Zealand, get in touch with Conti - Mortgages Overseas either  by exploring our website www.mortgagesoverseas.com or via telephone 08009700985

How to be a Successful Overseas Property Buyer

How to be a Successful Overseas Property Buyer

Investing in property can sometimes be stressful and a bit of a hassle but as most will tell you, once you’ve achieved it you will feel a huge sense of satisfaction. Here are some helpful hints and tips to minimise the stress and to maximise the satisfaction.

Think ahead and make a decision on what questions you want to ask your possible estate agent. Enquire about essential information, facts and figures. For example; the quantity of houses they’ve sold in the past year, where they were in relation to the area you’re interested in etc. Decent agents will be more than happy to give you such information and talk you through it all. A not-so-decent agent will not, and this should ring alarm bells.

Get organised! It makes overseas property purchase a lot simpler. Get a notebook or a folder where you can keep any advice or information you gather. This will create an invaluable source of data that you can easily access for reference purposes.

Unfortunately, the reality is that you have to anticipate extra costs and fees when buying a property overseas. Most will consider relevant taxes, down payment, bank funds etc. when, in fact, costs such as improvement bonds, school taxes (if applicable) and other location specific charges may be included. Think logically and think laterally to best predict such additional fees.


To ensure that you’re in the best possible position before buying, ask your estate agent for a checklist. Many will have pre-made checklists specifically designed for buying a house. Getting your hands on multiple versions of checklists from a couple of different agents means that you’ll be covered for basically all possible scenarios.

If you are planning on investing in a foreclosed home, it’s important that you make arrangements for repairs to happen. In quite a lot of cases, homes that are foreclosed have been left empty for a while before hitting the market, so it’s likely that they’ve been neglected on the upkeep front. They are likely to require HVAC (Heating, Ventilation and Air-Conditioning) system installation and you should be aware of the possibility of pests.

Be prepared to be a bit flexible. You may fall in love with a house but the location may not be great, or vice versa, you need to be aware of your budget. So be ready to search in another area or maybe try looking at a different type of home.

Establish clear long term and short term goals for yourself. If these goals aren’t met, search for another property. After all this is an investment and if it doesn’t meet your objectives, the investment’s unlikely to pay off.

Don’t place your purchase solely on one factor e.g. the view. You may love it, but if it’s subjective, others may not agree with you so you may end up missing out if you decide to sell the house in future. Try to ensure the property has multiple good points rather than just one. If you love it, go for it but try not to pay too much.
I’m sure you’ve already heard this but... Location, location, location! Location should be very high up on your priorities list. E.g. if you are investing in overseas property to set up a shop, if the location isn’t right you won’t get the customers.

Consider the asking price of the house when deciding upon your initial offer. If you have an accommodating seller, it’ll be simple to determine a final purchasing price that you are content with.

Get ready for some remodelling and some repair work, this way you get the most value from your property. seeing your investment’s value increase is incredibly satisfying and if you do it right, its value could increase beyond what you originally invested in it!.

Hopefully this has given you a little bit of an insight into the fact that buying property overseas isn’t as complex as it initially seems. The research stage could get confusing, but it will be worth it in the long term.
If you have any questions about investing abroad, buying a property overseas or taking out a mortgage abroad, get in touch with Conti - Mortgages Overseas either by exploring our website (www.mortgagesoverseas.com or via telephone 08009700985

Best places to retire abroad

While we batten down the hatches and attempt to ride out the economic storm, there are places in the world that i know i would far rather ride it out.

People purchasing a holiday home buy it to rent out, or buy it for personal use, or even a bit of both, but research has found that increasing numbers of people over 50 years old are purchasing properties abroad to ride out retirement. 

There are four main incentives for people moving abroad  such as less tax a much nicer climate so heating bills arent as expensive, a general lower cost of living and with house prices across the world having been hit by the recession, there are SO many great deals around, it is the best time to buy.

Here are 10 places with some of the best deals for anyone looking to buy or retire overseas:

Florida

On average the climate’s a lot warmer than Britain’s, so you’re guaranteed sunshine. Property prices have fallen by 30-70 per cent over the past four years.

You can pick up a one-bedroom condominium apartment for £25-£40,000. A more spacious, and more rentable alternative, would be a two-bedroom, two-bathroom apartment for £55-£60,000 at Tuscana.This is a new resort just ten minutes from the Disney World Theme Park, in Orlando, and 45 minutes from the Legoland Park at Winter Haven, due to open in October.

Barbados

Brits are the biggest expat community in Barbados. Celebrities such as Sir Cliff Richard and Andrew Lloyd Webber are known to have brought property on the island. Estate agents have  reported a 70 % increase in 2010, in comparison to sales in 2009. This is partially due to house prices being lower in 2008 by 15%. The biggest discounts are on condominium developments.

France

Overall, prices in France are eight per cent down on their 2007 peak. 39 % of Britons moving to France tend to opt for coastal properties, 37% choose rural areas and 19% decide to recline in mountainous areas.
Areas such as Aquitaine, the Dordogne and the Languedoc remain very popular. However the prospect of spending a year or more in Provence, à la Peter Mayle, is as attractive as ever.

If you have a big chunk of money and are looking for a quick return, however, the historic centre of Paris is the place to buy. According to the British specialists Home Hunts apartment prices rose by 20 per cent in 2010.

Cyprus

While the beautiful Cyprian sunshine is just one of the reasons to consider moving to the Greek Island, if in one financial year you spend over 183 days on the island, you become a tax resident, liable for as little as five per cent income tax.

Corporate rates of tax are only 10 per cent. There are newbuilds at Limassol Marina, the Leptos Apollo Beach Villas, near Paphos, and the Sea Gallery Villas, at Amathus.

Italy

You won’t find stacks of cheap, soulless, little modern apartments in Tuscany and Umbria. But you will find lots of rural residences with character.

Prices are between 5-20 per cent lower than September 2008, so for £150,000 you can buy a pretty, stone-built town house in the village of Collodi Castello.

And £208,000 will buy you a three-bedroom hillside home with barn and garden, near Lucca. Purchase tax goes up to 18 per cent from 10 per cent if a property’s land is cultivable.

Mauritius

Picture postcard beaches, and an expat-friendly Integrated Resort Scheme, whereby you, your spouse and offspring enjoy not only residency status, but freedom from inheritance and capital gains tax. This is provided you buy a top-end property such as at the (288-villa) Valriche development next to two golf courses (with another planned). Prices start from £500,000 for a two-bedroom villa.

South Africa

Cape Town is where most Brits gravitate, with its fine beaches and equable climate. Prices can be 50% lower than the most expensive parts of Europe, too.

You can buy a three-bedroom house, in a gated community, overlooking Hout Bay, for £500,000, and rent it out for around £2,000 per month. The two most UK-friendly areas are Clifton and Camps Bay, where 30% of the population is British.

Spain

Property sales in Majorca are up, as is the number of Monarch Airlines flights from Britain. You can buy an (as yet unbuilt) two-bedroom beachside villa at Cala Anguilla for £180,900.

Murcia, in south-east Spain, was the original star of Spanish golfing properties. It now has more links-side homes for sale, at below-par prices. A two-bedroom home costs £45,000 at the Camposol Golf Development, at Mazarron. 

Switzerland

You need to be rich to get in, but once you get in, you’ll get richer. In Switzerland, taxes are decided by an individual’s expenditure and standard of living, rather than income and assets.
 

Turkey

During 2010, property sales to foreigners rose by 40 per cent on the year before, totalling £2.5 billion.

Not quite as good as the 3 billion of the boom years (2006-08), but enough to name Istanbul the best European city for investing in property during 2011.

Buy a place in this fascinating metropolis and you also have a ready supply of would-be tenants for when you’re not there. Istanbul has an estimated housing shortage of 250,000 units per year.

A one-bedroom apartment at the new Belgravia Residence development, in Bahcesehir, 20 minutes from the city centre, costs £48,000. 
 

Before you buy

Ten things to think about before you decide on moving:

·        Do your currency sums. What happens if the pound plummets – or soars?

·        Think jet lag – how many hours’ difference between there and GMT?

·        How dependent on low-cost airlines will you be?

·        Can you afford to keep the place for your exclusive use? Or will you need to rent it out?

·        If you’ve only been there on holiday, what’s the weather like during the rest of the year?

·        Have you a good local lawyer? Often, a mere notaire is not enough.

·        Do you speak the language? If not, you may want to buy into an expat British community.

·        How free (or otherwise) is health care out there?

·        How re-sellable is the property?

·        How easy (or hard) does the country in question make it for your descendants to inherit the place?

if you are thinking of moving abroad, and are looking into taking out an overseas mortgage, whether it be in France, Spain, Italy or South Africa, here at Conti overseas mortgages we can offer you great mortgage deals so you can start soaking up the sun.

Alternatively, if you are happy here in the UK and are in the process of moving but need conveyancing, visit us at www.helpfulconveyancing.co.uk for your conveyancing solutions today!!

Live like the world’s most successful Olympian

MICHAEL PHELPS HAS RECENTLY BECOME THE WORLD'S MOST DECORATED OLYMPIAN OF ALL TIME, YET UNFORTUNATELY HE STILL HASN'T YET MEDALLED IN THE PROPERTY MARKET.

In February earlier this year, Phelps put his 4,000 square-foot apartment on the US property market, giving property buyers Worldwide the chance to live in luxury like an Olympian for a mere $1.42m - at a discounted rate from the original price that he purchased the property for of $1.69m.

The apartment condo is situated in Baltimore's famous Inner Harbor and boasts three bedrooms, three bathrooms, a picturesque views of the marina from its top floor balcony as well as access to the building's indoor pool where Phelps could practise his strokes. The new lucky owner of this wonderful property could utilise the hot tub on the roof terrace to perhaps perfect their treading water skills.

While since 2007, when originally purchasing the property, Phelps’ tally of gold medals has increased, unfortunately the American economy took a turn for the worst, leaving the 28 year old swimmer swimming against the property current. Even after reducing the value of his home significantly, Phelps has struggled to find a buyer.

However, now is the perfect opportunity for someone to make a splash in the US property market. The demand for American homes is increasing from overseas, so we may see a few Olympic-enthusiast investors to be dashing to the harbour-side.

Would you take the dive? If you fancy taking advantage of the American property market and would like to look into purchasing a property in USA, visit us at Conti- Overseas Mortgages to help you on your way.

Alternatively, if you are looking in the UK and are confused by conveyancing prices and additional charges, visit us at www.helpfulconveyancing.co.uk to help clarify you confusion and compare conveyancing prices to help you find the best deal for you with NO added costs. We operate remotely so can offer you the best prices on conveyancing for the highest quality conveyancing.

American Mortgage rates increase for the first time in almost 2 months

American mortgage rates have increased for the first time in nearly 2 months, rising from the lows that have helped to keep the property market stable.

Recently average rates have been at record lows of 3.49% for a 30 year fixed mortgage, but have just climbed up to 3.55%. While the average 15 year rates have increased from 2.8% to 2.83%, a small increase, but an increase nonetheless!

The slowly recovering property market can be partially attributed to a reduced number of available houses and lower borrowing costs. The S&P/Case-Shiller index of prices in 20 U.S. cities decreased 0.7 percent in the 12 months through May, the smallest decline since September 2010.

“House prices have turned the corner,” Sal Guatieri has said, senior economist at BMO Capital Markets in Toronto “The record-low mortgage rates are supporting the best affordability in at least four decades.”

An index of applications for refinancing climbed 0.8 percent in the week ended July 27, the Washington-based Mortgage Bankers Association said yesterday. The group’s purchase gauge dropped 2.3 percent.

If this marks the start of a climb in the housing market of America, then now would be a fantastic time to get involved. If you are interested in the American property market, buying a house in the USA or taking out a US mortgage, then get in touch with Conti -Mortgages Overseas either by exploring our website (www.mortgagesoverseas.com) or via telephon 08009700985

Escape The Euro Crisis In These High Growth Property Markets

fig 1. mount Ararat, Turkey

The Euro is on the brink of breaking as political leaders in Greece have announced that their country is heading towards its own Great Depression with Spain and now Italy slowly heading the same way. However,
as Roman philosopher Seneca once said “It’s not because things are difficult that we dare not venture, it’s because we dare not venture that they are difficult.”

if you were interested in buying property in Europe, perhaps Spain or Italy, but are worried at where the pending economic crisis may leave you, then fear not as there is a country in Europe that may be able to help jump start your property portfolio.

Turkey has been one of the top spots on investors’ property lists for the past two years with its rapid GDP growth of 3.2% in the first quarter of 2012 underpinning strong rises in the value of Istanbul property.

As a result of the new reciprocity law that has been passed to allow citizens from the majority of countries to invest in Turkish property, there is now a steady influx of investors from Gulf nations in particular, who were previously unable to invest directly.

As many Turkish real estate advisors will tell you, “If you really want to make money from investing in Istanbul property you will need to move early to get the best prices. We are seeing a lot of interest from investors we haven’t seen before as a result of the new law being approved.”

Property prices in Turkey are already on the up and are rising by around 10% every year, which would mean, if this trend continues, that property in Turkey could have risen by so much as 50%!! This is making Istanbul a great place add to a property portfolio or even to build.

The property market in Florida is another hot market that is attracting some attention this year with investors hoping to catch the bounce.

Fig 2. Crandon Park, Florida

If you are keen to invest but you want to steer clear of the Eurozone crisis, Florida is a market where you can enjoy strong rental yields and prices that are showing the first clear signs that they are on the up.

You can pick up a townhouse from as little as £45,000 and with the price of Miami property 50% below its peak it is a solid investment!

If you are tempted by the prospect of taking advantage of the property market in Turkey or in Florida and are looking into investing in property in either of these places, or anywhere else for that matter visit Conti Overseas Mortgages at www.mortgagesoverseas.com

OR if you are looking for a home in the UK and need conveyancing? visit us at www.helpfulconveyancing.co.uk for all your conveyancing solutions!!

Tom Cruise’s house hunt is proving to be mission impossible!

Tom Cruise has been reported to be house hunting after his recently announced split from his wife, Katie Holmes. However his attempt at trying to quietly find a new home are proving to be a rather impossible mission.

Last week, the New York Post reported that the actor had looked into an 11-acre estate in Rockland Country.

"Staff at the home were told to vacate the premises quickly", adds the Post, as Cruise appeared with six year old daughter Suri to look at the unlisted property.

The mansion, which spans 13,500 square feet and is situated on the waterfront, is estimated to cost $13.5 million. His new neighbours would include the likes of Al Pacino and Mikhail Baryshnikov.

The news follows reports that Katie Holmes had rented an apartment in New York City in advance of the couple's divorce.

if you fancy a brand new pad in New York, or even anywhere in America and you are looking to take out a mortgage in the USA, visit Conti for all of your overseas mortgage solutions.

Alternatively, if you are moving house within the UK and are in need of conveyancing but want to find the best deal for you, compare conveyancing with us at www.helpfulconveyancing.co.uk