September 30th, 2007 by admin
Obelisk International believes that with improved infrastructure and the massive regeneration investment carried out in preparation for the 2004 Olympics, coupled with the growing economy, and increasing tourism figures, have further strengthened Greece property investment as infrastructure is now able to sustain permanent residents and visitors, which has been confirmed by the Financial Times.
Latest figures show that year-on-year price growth has been 7% up to quarter 1 of 2007, with prices for apartments in Athens registering a 12% rise in the first quarter of 2006. During the period 1999 to 2002, Athens saw house prices increase on average by 164%..
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September 29th, 2007 by admin
The year-to-date turnover from certified sale contracts for real estate in Iceland was nearly ISK 321 billion (USD 4.9 billion, EUR 3.5 billion) as of September 7, compared with an annual turnover of ISK 269 billion (USD 4.1 billion, EUR 3.0 billion) in 2006.
The number of sale contracts reached 10,500 on September 7, compared with 11,700 contracts for the entire year in 2006, Morgunbladid reports.
Haukur Ingibergsson, director of the Land Registry of Iceland, said a number of factors contribute to this boom in property sales, like the increase in population, high employment rates, greater purchasing power, economic growth, a general sense of optimism and a varied supply of housing.
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September 27th, 2007 by admin
As Romania continues its progress towards EU accession with its entry date confirmed as January 2007, so the rules relating to foreign freehold ownership of land and property in Romania are changing to come in line with the European Union’s regulations.
This bodes well for the investment property market in Romania because currently non-Romanian citizens are not permitted to own land in Romania unless they purchase it through a Romanian company structure.
The property buying process in Romania will become more streamlined and hopefully more transparent in the years following Romania’s EU entry (Jan 2007), in the meantime here’s our guide to the real estate purchase process in Romania currently.
The first objective to fulfil is the search for suitable real estate, and to this end an investor can secure the services of an estate agent in Romania who speaks English and has local knowledge of properties available for sale. An investor will likely have a strict set of criteria that his property acquisition should fulfil, and these should be articulated to the estate agent so that they can source suitable properties for viewing.
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September 26th, 2007 by admin
A cultural treasure trove stuffed to bursting with the ancient monasteries, churches, mosques and Roman and Byzantine ruins, and located in the very heart of the Balkan Peninsula is Bulgaria. Investors Provident have recently launched their investment section on Bulgaria and offers its clients some very diverse and high capital growth investment opportunities.
Since its escape from the yoke of communism, Bulgaria has struggled to join the modern world. It became a member of NATO in 2004 and is due to join the European Union in 2007. With the Black Sea to the east, Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, and Greece and Turkey to the south, it’s a country that retains a charming mixture of the old and the new.
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September 25th, 2007 by admin
Well, it’s true – we are hot on property in Montenegro at Amberlamb but don’t go believing that our property passions ever cloud our collective judgment! Yes, this report is about property in Montenegro but it’s not just about the pros - for we would be remiss if we failed to highlight the cons for you as well…
If you take a trip to this stunning, small but perfectly formed nation without looking at real estate for sale we defy you not to fall in love with the beauty and charms of Montenegro. But if you’re going on a real estate fact finding mission you will indeed find a few problems along the way that the developers and real estate agents are ensuring stay out of the main stream media promotion of the emerging property market in Montenegro.
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September 21st, 2007 by admin
Enjoying the same dramatic coastline as Montenegro and Croatia, and languishing less than sixty miles from the Italian coast, Albania has previously been overlooked by the investor spotlight in favour of its headline grabbing neighbours. Yet with Albania scheduled to join the EU and NATO, hundreds of millions of Euros being invested by the EU and low property prices, Albania’s stunning potential is no longer a secret.
Barrasford and Bird, the Devon based agents that pioneered the Bulgarian property market over three years ago, are one of the first agents to recognise the huge potential of this emerging property market. Robin Barrasford, Managing Director of Barrasford and Bird Worldwide, says “Albania is an amazing opportunity that I believe to be unrivalled in the overseas property market today.
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September 19th, 2007 by Ines
9 years ago Slovenia was still the richest republic in the Yugoslav federation. Now it is the most prosperous among the candidates for the European union membership. With per capita gross domestic product of more than $13 000 (US Dollars) Slovenians enjoy higher living standards than in the poorest Western European country Greece. The main financial rating agencies - Moody’s, Standard & Poor’s and FITCH IBCA gave the country high grades -A3, A, A (where usually AAA is the highest grade and D - lowest). In September 1999 Slovenia was ranked in 33rd position among 180 countries according to the following criteria: economic performance, political risk, debt indicators, credit ratings, access to bank finance, access to short-term finance and access to capital markets. The Institutional Investor’s Country Credit Rating of September 1999 showed Slovenia in 28th place among 135 countries.
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September 18th, 2007 by Ines
Berlin is attracting more British investors with property prices currently 10 times cheaper than London, and lower than even those of main Central and Eastern European cities. Based in the UK, Alpha Real Estate Investments, the Central European property specialist, is launching a variety of lucrative opportunities for shrewd UK and Irish investors who want to capitalise on the property market in Germany’s capital with rental yields from 5.5 per cent.
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August 11th, 2007 by Ines
Cyprus is one of the more popular property markets in the world. Activity in the property market in Cyprus is brisk, including foreign nationals who buy and sell property. Non-Cypriots have been involved in all areas of the property market. Foreign nationals have been found to invest in commercial, investment and residential property in all areas of the country.
Most industry experts maintain that the property market in Cyprus should continue to do a brisk business well into the coming decade. With the entry of Cyprus into the European Union, more and more foreign nationals from EU member states likely will become involved in the Cypriot property market.
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August 11th, 2007 by Ines
The idyllic Mediterranean island of Cyprus has for years been a popular holiday and property investment location for the Irish.
Lying in the eastern Mediterranean, the island is located just off Syria, east of the Greek islands and immediately south of Turkey.
This combination explains the main influences on the country - Greece to the south and Turkey to the north. The northern part of the island was invaded by the Turks in 1974. The Turkish government claimed it was protecting the minority Turkish Cypriot population from a potential Greek occupation of the island.
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