As Greek Tourism Booms, So Does Property Interest

The recent upsurge in Greek tourism has led to an increase in demand for properties in the Mediterranean country according to sources throughout the industry.

According to A Place In The Sun, one of the world’s largest travel groups, TUI, looks set to bring in over 300,000 additional tourists to Greece next year over 2013, meaning the firm will bring in over 2 million tourists in total. Tourism experts are predicting a new record of 18 million foreigners’ visiting next year. Both September and October of this year have been immensely strong in terms of visitor numbers too, riding on the back of a record-setting summer.

This has had a positive impact on overseas investors looking to purchase in the country - Rightmove Overseas claimed in its 2013 consumer survey that Greece is the 3rd most popular destination for people looking to relocate to foreign shores. Greece is also the 4th most popular place for those who are looking specifically for investment property – beating the likes of Italy, Turkey and Thailand.

Despite the recent issues concerning the Eurozone, the sun, sea, sand and unique character of Greece makes it a reliable country for tourism, especially now non-Europeans are seeking fast-track routes to EU residency. Greece is now giving speedy residency to buyers of any property over 250,000 Euros, with the first being granted to a Chinese man on 8th August.

All of this adds up to good news for the property market in Greece, which has been looking more and more positive during 2013.

Chinese Property Investors Go Global

Rising domestic property prices in China have led to properties abroad becoming extremely popular as they offer substantially cheaper prices than in the majority of Chinese cities, according to Chinese paper Southern Weekly.

The paper reports that for the same money paid for a 25.5 sq. metre property in Beijing (around $163,000 USD), an investor can buy a 100 sq. metre property in California.

Zhang Ping, an investor from Guangdong province in the world’s most populated country, was quoted saying that “Any place is cheap, except China”. This investor purchased a San Francisco villa with an annual return of 9%, whilst a house in the city of Guangzhou brings in annual returns of a mere 3% - an illustration of why high net worth Chinese investors are looking elsewhere.

In what has become almost routine for wealthy buyers in the country, buyers from China are now concerned about where to buy, based on which countries can offer the highest returns and how best to avoid tax.

The US seems to be of particular interest for Chinese buyers, with the most popular locations including Los Angeles, New York and Miami in Florida. Rental returns vary dependent on locations – Atlanta in San Francisco, for example, typically can have 8% rental returns, whilst an apartment in Paris, France, can return 10%. France, Portugal and Australia remain popular, as do countries offering immigration status to investors.

FLORIDA OWNERS Set To Gain From Rental Boom

A lot has been made recently about tourism booming in Florida and how the property market is performing exceptionally well.

According to A Place In The Sun, the good news is set to continue into next year as 2014 is looking particularly positive for holiday rentals. According to the publication, Florida has peaked amongst searches for 2014 holidays compared to the other top destinations

Year round sunshine and some of the world’s leading attractions (Busch Gardens and SeaWorld to name just two) make the Sunshine State popular in all seasons, but it’s not just these factors that bring in the visitors. A lively nightlife, extensive shopping and some of the world’s most exclusive golf courses make the area appeal to a vast amount of different visitors. An added bonus is that the region is also becoming more accessible due to the decreasing costs of flights.

A Place In The Sun also mentions that a recent trend in holidays where larger groups of people stay together in one home is now popular, particularly in Florida. This has resulted in larger homes being the most successful for rentals, especially those with additional facilities such as swimming pools and those in more ideal locations.

As we’ve mentioned on our news page before, there is plenty of positive news regarding the numbers of visitors heading to Florida. The recent strength of the pound against the US Dollar is also probably accountable for encouraging travel to the US, particularly to the key tourism regions such as Florida, according to A Place In The Sun.

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