Overseas Property Market

Welcome to our latest update on the world of overseas property sales, opportunities remain the main topic of conversation this issue , again we are recording increased activity from buyers with investors more prepared to take longer term risks .

Sterling to Euro exchange rate has seen a slight recovery with an increase from 1.08 from the beginning of April to the heady heights of 1.1350 last week, this week seeing it open at slightly under 1.13 Euros to the GBP.

Spanish Bank, Banco Pastor are entering the mortgage market with offerings to non residents of up to 70% LTV which a good sign and encouraging for borrowers.
We remain to see some exceptional value in property prices and in this edition of our newsletter we bring you a selection of some of our best value apartments.

Cost of flights remain on everyone’s lips to the Canary Islands and some current offers from Thomas Cook look to alleviate the pain in this area, Greece enjoys some excellent value for flights currently with some stunning offers to both the Islands and the main national airport in Athens, visit our links at the bottom of the newsletter to find some of the current offers.
My view of today’s marketplace remains the same there is no better time to buy than now, I can here you all say well of course he would say that he is an Estate Agent !! but seriously my view is with some of the prices we have on some properties today we will never be able to beat them.

Happy hunting and of course at GoldAcre Estates we are always on hand to help and advise with any questions you may have.

Greek Real Estate Best European Investment

Intrnational Herald Tribune reports that Greek Real Estate defies the market doldrums with Greek Islands Property being favoured by increasing numbers of Europeans looking for luxury invrestments in Greece…..


Greek real estate boom defies market doldrums
By Niki Kitsantonis Published: International Herald Tribune July 22, 2008
ATHENS: Increasing numbers of affluent Europeans are buying or building luxury properties on the Greek islands, even as the market for top-end holiday homes in other European destinations like Spain and Bulgaria remains stalled, Greek real estate agents say.

Industry experts explain that the range of available properties - from extravagant new villas to bargain plots - has been attracting foreign buyers, some of whom say their investments have doubled or even tripled in value in just a few years. "The islands have something for everyone, and they are close to home for Europeans, so foreign interest is strong," said Yannis Perrotis, head of CB Richard Ellis-Atria real estate consultants in Athens.

There are about 70,000 foreign owners with property in Greece and, while there are no official records of house purchases by foreign nationals, there is a lot of anecdotal evidence that the numbers are continuing to grow.

The British and the Germans make most purchases, according to agents, who agree that the slump in the British housing market and a weak pound have had little impact on top-end property sales. Next are the French, Italians and Scandinavians. There have been fewer U.S. buyers since the dollar fell against the euro, but fast-growing interest from newly wealthy Russians is absorbing the slack.

Agents say most of these customers pay €4,000 to €10,000 per square meter, or $590 to $1,470 per square foot, for new top-end properties, depending on the cachet of the location. These prices, up by about 20 percent since a 2005 real estate boom, are three times as high as those for similar structures in the fledgling second-home markets of Turkey, Bulgaria and Croatia and significantly higher than those for equivalent properties in Spain, where prices have plummeted in the past year.

Also, they note that the price of land on the islands and subsequent construction costs are a fraction of the expense of buying something new from a developer. For many prospective buyers, however, completing a sale on one of the several hundred Greek islands can be a Herculean task. "Many are turned off by the endless procedures," Perrotis acknowledged.

He and other agents complain that inadequate national laws governing real estate purchases and an incomplete national land register causes complications and delays, complaints that also are heard from developers trying to build luxury vacation complexes.

By early next year, a new national zoning law is expected to clarify where construction is allowed and where it is forbidden, although the minimum plot size required for building, now 4,000 square meters, or nearly an acre, is not expected to change.

Any prospective buyer must hire a lawyer who can navigate the land register and deal with forestry and archaeological authorities. For older buildings, a civil engineer should be enlisted to check the structures' resistance to earthquakes, which are common in Greece.

Just as the islands have different characters - some tranquil, others lively; some with strong Venetian or Ottoman influences, others distinctively Cycladic, with white-washed villas - they also have different rules. "Some islands require more paperwork, others are stricter about issuing building licenses, so it is best to talk to an agent first," said Giorgos Zappas of Re/Max Properties in Athens.

Generally, EU citizens face the same requirements as Greeks, and all buyers must pay taxes of 19 percent on new construction or about 10 percent for older properties. "There is some extra paperwork for non-EU citizens, like Americans and Russians, but we help with that," Zappas said.

Prices for new luxury homes vary. On the popular Aegean islands of Paros, Naxos, Rhodes and Crete, they range from €3,000 to €7,000 per square meter. More tranquil spots, like Antiparos, Patmos and Tinos, have a similar price range.

On the more cosmopolitan Mykonos and Santorini, the sky is the limit for property costs. Foreign interest in Santorini is more or less restricted to areas around the caldera, the large central lagoon that was created by a massive eruption 3,600 years ago. Most villas with caldera views cost €3 million to €4 million.

Prices are similar on Mykonos, where a well-positioned new home costs €7,000 to €15,000 per square meter. A magnet for jet-setters since the 1960s, the island is divided into two zones - blue, where building is allowed, and brown, where it is not.

But there are a lot of "unofficial" rules too.Roy Elsbury, a 52-year-old British property developer, said his first attempt to buy on Mykonos was aborted when the seller asked for payment under the table. "Coming from an environment where everything is done by the book, it was a shock," he said.

Elsbury's second attempt was successful. In 2005 he bought two 100-square-meter villas on a cliff overlooking Mykonos's famed Elia Beach. Now the renovated 20-year-old properties have doubled in value and are worth €1 million each, he said.For Keith Miller, 59, an NBC-TV correspondent, building in Greece was surprisingly trouble-free.

With a good lawyer and "a great deal of homework," Miller built two villas on the Ionian island of Corfu. He paid €60,000 for the land, which is in the island's coveted northeast region - called Kensington-on-the-Sea because of its growing population of wealthy Londoners. And he spent €500,000 to build the villas.

The larger property - a 500-square-meter villa built in 2005 - has tripled in value to €1.8 million, according to Aylesford International, a London-based agency. He rents it out for €7,000 a week in the summer, which covers the maintenance cost on both properties.

Corfu has one of the largest expatriate communities of all the islands, accommodating 20,000 Britons alone.

The Ashcrofts, a British-Corfiot couple, recently finished renovating a 400-year-old mansion, a relic of the island's Venetian occupation. "It was a real challenge to do it in the original style but we got there in the end," Alex Ashcroft said.

He and David Ashcroft, both 65, bought the property 14 years ago for the equivalent of £56,000, or $112,000, and said they had spent "about double that" on renovations. Now, they say, their home has been valued at €1 million.

On postcard-pretty Hydra, between the Argolic and Saronic Gulfs, near Athens, a few wealthy Europeans have renovated neoclassical buildings, albeit with difficulty. Cars are banned, so donkeys are used to transport materials, said Alex Calothis, who runs an agency for foreigners scouting Hydra and the southern Peloponnese. Calothis said many Britons had inquired about old houses for renovation but then ended up buying new. "The lure of a no-hassle, key-in-hand villa usually outweighs the romantic dream," he said.

The Peloponnese - a peninsula connected to the mainland by a narrow strip of land - is attracting buyers, particularly Germans, despite the damage caused by severe fires last summer.

The Peloponnese, Crete and Paros have been besieged by developers building luxury complexes with golf courses and "clusters" of high-end villas. Last year, about 400 villas were built just on Paros, an island that totals only 200 square kilometers, or 75 square miles, with a full-time population of about 13,000.

The authorities say the recent increase in property sales is just the beginning. "Demand for luxury homes within complexes is constantly rising," said Giorgos Souflias, the country's public works minister, who insists that Greece will not overdevelop its coastland as Spain has done.

But Dimitris Bailas, prefect of the Cyclades island group, including Mykonos, wants the islands' character preserved. "Authorities should offer incentives for the renovation of original buildings, not allow construction on every hill and beach," Bailas said.

International Real Estate Market

International markets continue to be affected by the major banks restrictions on lending although this has also bought some stunning opportunities to acquire some lovely properties at very realistic prices, it is envisaged that the markets will be a little slower certainly until the end of the year, the ECB has recently announced that it will not be making any rate reductions in the next two months as it feels that there is no need to support rates in the current environment as some markets are slowly recovering.Some European banks have not been affected by the credit crises and have funds available which is making purchasing overseas property in some locations a lot more easily.
Choosing the correct location for your overseas purchase is vital in avoiding pressures of International circumstances as some are experiencing now, key factors are length of season, for rentability, as it does not matter what the circumstances are people will always take a holiday and look for quality property to rent.