PERU CUZCO The hottest spots on Earth


Andrea Kirkby discovers new property investment opportunities, but which UK agents will be intrepid enough to sell them?


T


here’s nothing as uncool as wearing last year’s fashion. Think back to the ‘hot’ markets of 2006, and most of them – Bulgaria, Estonia, the Costas – have come


down to earth with a crash. There’s a new generation of property hotspots now; will they do any better? Jordan is literally, as


well as metaphorically, hot with average summer temperatures of thirty degrees plus in the capital, Amman. There are no restrictions on foreign ownership (other than a five year minimum holding period, which prevents ‘flipping’), and though the market saw a decline of 10-15 per cent from its peak through 2008-9, with an oversupply of luxury apartments, and high construction costs, it now appears to be headed back towards growth.


44 DECEMBER 2010 PROPERTYdrum Real estate consultant Asteco’s Q3


2010 Jordan report shows villa prices slightly down, but both rentals and prices for apartments increasing in the period. According to Aida Najjar, manager of Asteco’s Jordan business, “premium residential products in good locations are still sought after, due to limited stock.” The factor that is likely


to attract attention from foreign investors is the number of large projects now in process. Some have been mothballed,


but one of the biggest, the Marsa Zayed resort, is still going ahead, with Phase One


completion expected in 2014. This


project will transform the prospects of Aqaba as a meeting and conference centre as well as a tourist destination, with offices and a marina as well as several hotels and a large number of resort properties. At the same time, air


traffic into Jordan is growing (Amman airport saw arrivals up 17 per cent in the first half of 2010), and the first low cost flights have been announced (through an Air Arabia/Tantash Group joint venture). Iraqi emigrés have been one driver


behind the market; there are estimated to be between a quarter and half a million Iraqis now living in Jordan, many of them buying into luxury flats. Jordanian expats are also now returning to the country from America and buying property there. New home finance packages are also expected to boost the market, as is an end to a freeze on rental rates that began in 2000. The economic fundamentals are good.


GDP per capita is low, at USD 2,423, but King Abdullah is reforming the economy and liberalising the markets. GDP is now growing at 3-4 per cent, though still slower than the average in 2002-8 of over eight per cent. Rental yields in Amman range from 7 to 8.5 per cent – way below levels seen in 2006-7 but still better than can be enjoyed in more developed markets.


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