6 | INTERNATIONAL BUYER NEWS
UK
UK investors abandon holiday home market
Pure investors from the UK have disappeared from a holiday home market now dominated by cash-rich lifestyle buyers, according to new research. The report from Savills International
Research and holiday lettings company HomeAway.co.uk, revealed how far the overseas property market in the UK had fallen over the last year. Just 2% of foreign-home owners in the UK bought their property in 2009, compared to 70% who bought between 2003 and 2008, according to the survey of 1,200 overseas property owners.
Interest returning
As the report estimates there are around 430,000 UK households that own foreign property, the survey results suggest that around 8,600 Brits bought an overseas home in 2009.
ITALY
Russians fill Italy’s buyer gap
Russians and other European buyer groups have filled the hole left by Brits retreating from the Italian market, according to agents exhibiting at La Dolce Vita in London last month. Exhibitors claimed they were at the
Italian lifestyle and property exhibition to test whether the British market was returning, but few expected to make many sales at the show. “The number of UK buyers we sell to
has gone right down and buyers from Russia, Scandinavia and the Benelux countries are more important now,” said
Lois Allan, CEO of agent L’Architrave. “But it’s good to have a presence in
the UK. We’re exhibiting at La Dolce Vita for the first time, not because we’re expecting a lot of sales but because the market is starting to pick up and we want to network.” The market has changed dramatically
from two years ago when it was dominated by British buyers, said Julia Kazlouskaya of Calabria Dreams. “There are some buyers from Germany and Denmark, but the Calabria market is now mostly Russians.
Testing the water | Exhibitors at La Dolce Vita didn’t have high hopes for sales
“Brits are still very careful, especially
because some companies in the overseas property market had a lot of problems. But Russians didn’t have these problems and are more willing to buy.” Italy was the fifth most popular destination for visitors to the St
Petersburg and Moscow International Property shows in November 2009. Kazlouskaya said that Russian
exhibitions could still deliver for Italian companies. “At the last show we did we took around 50 leads and have since made about 20 sales.”
“By spring 2009 Savills International
noted that interest in international holiday homes had returned, albeit at far lower levels than previous years,” said the report. “The market has now reverted back to traditional, end-user buyers (as opposed to investors), and mostly in traditional, established hotspots.” The high number of distressed sales
that have contributed to oversupply and falling prices has helped keep pure investors out of the market, it added. “In contrast to previous years, investors solely seeking to capitalise on upward price movement are no longer active in the market place.”
Grassroots sales
Savills’ head of international, Charles Weston-Baker (pictured), told OPP that mid-market buyers had also started to
Shrunken market | Savills’ report estimates 8,600 Brits bought a holiday home in 2009
return to the market. “We have started to see more grassroots sales coming through,” he said. “The very top of the market has largely been unaffected, but now end-users who are looking for lower-priced but quality property are buying to enjoy the product. “We’ve also noticed how important
sport has become to buyers, especially for baby boomers and those retiring. There’s a new enthusiasm for
experiential holidays and buyers need a reason to be somewhere, such as golf or horseriding. We seem to have jumped 20 years in aging, where people are slowing down at 80 rather than 60.” The report predicts another quiet
year for the UK holiday home market, with most sales taking place to high- income lifestyle buyers in traditional locations, with little activity in the speculative or off-plan market.
www.opp.org.uk | APRIL 2010
FRANCE LEADS BUYER RISE
Searches for international property rose by 72%
year-on-year in February on UK-based portal Primelocation. French property saw the biggest annual rise in enquiries, growing by 113%, taking 29% of all international searches on the site. Spain remained the most popular location and saw searches increase by 87% year-on-year.
BUYERS GETTING RICHER
Portugal has seen an influx of high-income buyers
looking for holiday homes as investment property, according to agent Infinito Real. This high-earning clientele represents a change in the market from last year when most buyers had saved up money for a permanent move to Portugal, said managing director Stephen Anderson.
MARKETING
DEVELOPER
BUSINESS
DESTINATION
PEOPLE
INDUSTRY
NEWS
TICKER
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68