Top 10 European Countries For Real Estate Property Investors
By Rhiannon Williamson, Fri Dec 9th
If you're looking to diversify, broaden or even begin yourproperty portfolio consider Europe for your next investmentdestination. Europe is host to such a broad range of countries all offeringdiverse property opportunities - you have everything fromemerging market economies with massive potential for sharpgrowth rates, well established city based rental markets givinggreat yields and even residential housing markets offering aninvestor a slow burn on his capital outlay. Here's an overview of the potential on offer in the top tenEuropean countries for real estate property investors right now.
Bulgaria - Bulgaria is in position for EU accession in2007 and as a result it is receiving massive foreign anddomestic investment particularly into infrastructure andconstruction and the whole country is benefiting from the amountof money being spent on it. Those who buy now in Bulgaria are buying into the longestprojected period of growth and buying before the expected boomthat will begin when Bulgaria is officially made an EU MemberState. Furthermore they are buying to target the burgeoningtourism market that heads for the beautiful beaches of the BlackSea Coast in the summer and the snow capped mountains ofBulgaria's ski resorts in the winter. Croatia - Another country tipped for full EU membershipin 2007, Croatia offers property investors commercial andresidential property opportunities. The numbers of internationalbusiness establishing bases in Croatia has increasedsubstantially in the last couple of years and there is demandfor the development of light industrial and office space. Furthermore Croatia has a strong tourism market that offers areal estate investor further opportunity to either target shortterm rental yields or to buy off plan or develop for resale tothe second and holiday home market in Croatia. Cyprus - There are two real estate economies in Cyprus -you have the well established Republic of Cyprus property marketwhere an investor should seek to target the retiree audience orthe tourism market and then in Northern Cyrus you have anemerging economy currently offering massive growth potential. Property price increases in North Cyprus have consistently beenin double digits for the past three years and there are no signsof a slow down in the offing. Czech Republic - The majority of real estate investorsconsider Prague the only city worth targeting in the CzechRepublic but the country's other cities like Brno also offer aninvestor opportunity to purchase residential accommodation forrent to the domestic and expatriate professional population.Property price growth has been fantastic in recent years andrental rates are increasing annually. Estonia - Real estate investors should target the localmarket in Estonia and consider looking for opportunities in thecapital city of Tallinn. The Estonian economy is growing at astaggering rate which is affording the local people greaterpurchasing power which in turn is having a direct effect on theproperty market in Estonia. Basically as local demand increases so prices can rise and aslocal purchasing power increases so it can sustain these pricerises. A real estate investor can buy into this growth now andshould expect the period of growth to be sustainable for atleast the medium term. Hungary - Property investors who targeted Hungary'scapital city of Budapest last year enjoyed up to 15% growth onunderlying property prices and these growth rates show no signof
slowing down currently. There is local and expatriate demand for property to buy and letin Budapest and the local economy is benefiting from foreigndirect investment and strengthening. This means that there arelong term prospect for growth in Hungary. Furthermore there's anemerging market within Hungary's property sector and that is thetourism market which offers an investor a chance to get in onboth residential and commercial property ventures targeting thisgrowing market segment. Latvia - Latvia is benefiting from substantial foreigndirect investment which has helped establish the Latvian economyas one of the fastest growing in Europe and Latvians are ontarget to receive one of the five largest wage increases in theworld. All this means that locally the population can afford tospend more on property either in the form of rental ratespayable or property prices payable and real estate investors canbuy off plan and flip on to the local market upon completion oreven buy to let out in the capital city of Riga or in thecoastal port towns. Poland - Having joined the European Union back in 2004Poland has received massive aid and investment as a result whichhas improved the country's infrastructure incredibly and led toa strong period of economic growth. Many European and international companies have established basesin Warsaw and Krakow and the demand for accommodation in thesecities alone has really soared. Real estate investors aretargeting Poland because it offers a low risk, high potentialproperty market. Furthermore investor confidence in Poland ishigh because the Polish government have already proved that theyhave a strong commitment to maintaining the good economic growthrates that their country is currently enjoying. Romania - Because Romania has yet to join the EU andalign all its governmental, fiscal and constitutional policieswith those of Europe it is quite a tricky country for a foreigninvestor to get in on. However it offers a real estate investorsuch exciting opportunities - where else in the world can youbuy anything and everything from a castle to a factory at suchridiculously low prices. Those with a strong appetite for paperwork and red tape willmake their fortunes from Romania's property market, but for therest of us it's an economy to watch carefully. As the countrymoves slowly towards EU membership so it will become easier andmore attractive for property investors to target. Turkey - Turkey is on track for EU accession followingagreement that it should begin accession talks in 2005. Sincethat point Turkey's economy has been granted 'Market Economy'status, the country has received billions of dollars of MiddleEastern funds into its property sector and world wide investorinterest in Turkey's property market has exploded. The majority of opportunities either exist in Istanbul or alongTurkey's southern coastline where hundreds of thousands oftourists flock every year. Prices for property in Turkey arecurrently incredibly low so with all the positive data and newscoming from Turkey recently there is only one way prices aregoing to go - and that's up! There are so many opportunities available to an investor inEurope that those serious about profiting from real estateproperty should give the continent careful consideration! About the author:Rhiannon Williamson is a freelance writer whose articles aboutproperty investing and emerging real estate markets haveappeared in publications around the world. She is currentlyworking on a brand new property investment resource http://www.amberlamb.com/ |
