• Home
•  » Property Investment News

Time Ripe for Property Investment?

Many of those planning property investment abroad (or at home) have been biding their time over the last few months. Bargain-hunters have been waiting for prices in the property market to drop further before they buy. But, if recent statistics are to be believed, the waiting is finally over. The time is now ripe to make that property investment in Brazil, the US or the UK.

According to an Overseas Property Professional (OPP) report, interest in worldwide property investment has recently seen a surge. Visits to portals specialising in different property markets around the world have increased dramatically since June. The biggest increase was found in the monthly traffic to Brazil real estate investment sites where visits grew by 30%. The number of visitors to US property webs saw an increase of 11% between June and July with an 18% growth in year-on-year traffic.

The OPP report includes figures from a UK property investment site that has found that website searches during August this year reached the same levels as early 2008, well before the credit crunch reached full impact. This would seem to indicate that interest in worldwide property investment is back to pre-recession levels.

But prospective property investors are not only looking; they're buying. In the UK, Knight Frank insists that the "property market is bouncing back" and says that residential property investment in the UK experienced a year-on-year increase of 37% in August this year. The British real estate agent has also seen a marked rise in interest in commercial property, which it believes has now hit rock bottom.

A recent article in the Times examines the market for new builds in the UK and comes to the conclusion that the "time for real bargains is over". Sales of new-build property in the UK are up 10% in the first eight months of this year and several developers are planning to start new off-plan construction before 2009 is out. New-home giant, Taylor Wimpey, is a case in point. The company is considering starting up to 40 new developments this year to sell off-plan, projects that would seem to indicate real optimism within the sector.

As always, it's impossible to predict future market directions, but the current signs certainly point to a sharp increase in interest in both real estate searches on the internet and property investment itself. And as everyone knows, once interest is sparked, prices start to rise and supply starts to fall.

If the "time for real bargains" is really over, now is the moment to make that property investment in the destination of your choice. If that choice is beachfront luxury, then Brazil real estate has few competitors. If it's urban residential, then the UK and US are your best bets. But whatever your choice is, the signs are that you need to make it soon.

« Back

Other Property Investment News