The Bulgarian property market is treading water with holiday homes emerging as the riskiest segment, local real estate investment fund managers said on Wednesday.The ongoing fragmentation of the market will be short-lived and it should regain its brisk growth momentum within the next couple of years, said Todor Stoyanov and Petar Syarov, the second executive director and the investor relations officer of local real estate investment trust Prime Property BG.

In many ways it is difficult to talk about the property market in Bulgaria at the moment – in much the same way as buy-to-let was one of the symbols of the boom in the UK property market, Bulgaria symbolised the vast expansion of the overseas property industry beyond the traditional holiday destinations into the realms of the new Europe.From this point, investors began to realise the full potential of investing in countries that were still not quite developed, and were able to get in at the lower levels of the investment curve.

The price growth, pressure on the construction of new infrastructure, and market speculation about how quickly and how far property prices could rise resulted in huge overbuilding in some areas, where some developments still uncompleted and unsold. As with many overseas property markets, perhaps the most successful investments are away from the most popular areas, and it has long been the view of many that the best opportunities in one of the newest members of the EU were in the ski and city developments. The ski season is longer and perhaps more reliable than the summer season on the coast, and as the resorts are being fully planned from scratch, they are geared to making the most of the summer mountain activities that make a property in a ski resort a potentially perfect investment.

The holiday homes segment had been on the back foot but demand is once again picking up over the last two months, said Stoyanov. Ski resort Bansko and sea resorts Sunny Beach and Sveti Vlas are the most risky property markets at the moment, said Stoyanov and Syarov. Despite the market slowdown, fears that it may cause prices to plummet are ungrounded, said the experts. According to the analysts of the company, the market is undergoing a gradual price reality-check, an indication that a bubble scenario has been averted.

According to the Bulgarian National Bank, the property market contracted by 17% from January to June 2008. The problem is particularly acute in some Black Sea resorts where property analysts believe that over-supply means between 20% and 30% of new-build apartments may remain unsold over the next two years.

Property in Brazil is one of the best investments around. Brazil is set to become the world's 8th largest economy by 2025 and has a winning combination of economic stability, falling interest rates and rising tourism. All of which is attracting overseas property investors to Brazil in increasing numbers.

Brazil's Healthy Economy

Brazil's economy has come on in leaps and bounds, turning it into a highly favourable fiscal and political environment for property investors. Brazil witnessed a 5.4% rise in GDP in 2007 alone and, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit, the government has succeeded in bringing inflation down to less than 4%. Living costs in Brazil are substantially lower than in the UK and it is thought that as the population becomes wealthier, demand for property will push prices up. Currently, prices are low enough to provide excellent investment returns and impressive capital growth.

Brazil's Booming Tourism

Any overseas property investor looks at a country's tourism figures as a guide to future growth and letting potential. Property investors in Brazil find the perfect investment environment with the government's established National Tourism Plan set to attract 9 million tourists annually. The plan will improve the country's infrastructure, including airports, with accessibility being a top priority for the Brazil property investor. The Natal region, on the beautiful north east coast of Brazil will soon be home to the area's second airport and the largest in South America.

Brazil Investment Property

Foreign property investment in Brazil has increased at a staggering rate - US$1.3 billion was invested by foreigners in 2006 alone and future projections by Brazil's Central Bank suggest those rises will continue and increase further. Brazilian investment property is still available at relatively low prices, both in the main cities and in popular areas such as Natal,where domestic demand is high. This combined with a pro-active attitude to the economy and tourism means that all indicators are positive for a healthy Brazil property investment market.

Property Investment in Brazil

A combination of a stable economy, falling interest rates and rising tourism are among the factors that are attracting investors in increasing numbers to property investment in Brazil. An online poll conducted at the beginning of 2007 showed that overseas property investors rate Brazil as the second best country in which to invest over a five-year period, second only to Bulgaria.

Brazil has fast developed into a sound economy with a fiscal and political environment conducive to growth. Despite the country’s vastly improved economy,living costs in the country are still substantially lower than in the UK. It is anticipated that as the population becomes wealthier as a result of economic and tourism growth, demand for property will increase prices. Prices are still low enough currently, however, to provide excellent, aggressive investment returns with notable capital growth and relatively high yields.

“It is anticipated that as the population becomes wealthier as a result of economic and tourism growth, demand for property will increase prices.”

These factors are expected to boost the mortgage market;up to this point borrowing to purchase a property has been rare in Brazil (22%of the population have a mortgage, against 70% in the USA and Europe, according to The Daily Telegraph), but the potential for demand is immense. Banks will respond to this by diversifying to offer more products, therefore boosting market growth and demand for property. Domestic demand is particularly strong outside of the big cities, as Brazilian residents who currently live in urban areas aspire to own second homes in diversified parts of the country. Demand from the construction sector has also grown, as a result of tax breaks implemented by the government as part of their program to accelerate growth.

Foreign investment into real estate is actively encouraged in Brazil;foreigners can own 100% of land and property within the country, which is not always the case in emerging markets. This is viewed as a major contributory factor, alongside the favourable currency exchange rate for foreigner investment. This has enabled direct foreign investment into real estate in Brazil to soar .A staggering US$1.3 billion was invested by foreigners in 2006 alone, and preliminary data from the Central Bank of Brazil has registered $26.5 billion from foreign direct investments between January and August 2007.

The fact that Brazilian properties are still available at low prices, combined with a pro-active Government that is taking a long-term attitude to investment into infrastructure improvements and into tourism, will result in inherent rises in property prices, thereby creating a lucrative property market. Additionally, the market is still in its infancy and indicators to its future are highly positive, all aspects that make it a prime emerging market.

Read more about the purchase process when buying property in Brazil.

Global Property Market Outlook 2009: Property markets throughout the world have shown a synchronisation of boom periods with price growth reaching its highest ever rate over the past decade. However, the recent slowdown in the property investment market due to the credit crunch, and over development in some areas, means that property investors must be more cautious and even more diligent with their research.

Comprehensive Research & Due Diligence

Before investing in property one should examine the changing trends in property markets around the world. How have they dealt with the impact of the collapse of the U.S. subprime market, reduced liquidity, and floundering economic conditions? What are the major issues and challenges facing investors, owners, and private and public equity decision-making in a global context? Where is the re-pricing of risk heading in international markets? What are the key challenges that lie ahead for property investors?

Whether you buy a property abroad as a holiday home or simply as a property investment it is imperative that you research all aspects of the property purchase. Our researchers monitor the international property investment market on a day to day basis providing property investors and holiday home buyers with comprehensive research and back ground information allowing them to make well informed decisions about where and which off plan property investment to buy.

Overseas Property as Investment Vehicle

More and more people are investing in overseas property as historically proven off plan property investments provide excellent returns for many investors. The popularity of off plan property as an investment vehicle has over recent years fueled by lower interest rates and disappointing returns from the stock market combined with the supply and affordability of international travel.

Global Property Investment Hotspots

All property investment markets have different factors to consider, ranging from the fact that there is an acute housing shortage, the region is an emerging holiday destination or the country's economy is robust and growing at a rate faster than other countries. Fair Deal Investments only selects property hotspots in countries that are able to offer a higher than average return on investment.

Golf is one of the fastest growing sports in this soccer-mad country. Brazilians of all ages, incomes and social classes are taking up the sport, which previously was played only by the country’s elite.  “The sport has grown at a very fast rate, it is amazing what has been happening,” said Alvaro Almeida, president of the Brazilian Golf Confederation. “And that’s the result of a push to make golf accessible to everybody, not only to those who have a lot of money.”

A recent report by the International Association of Golf Tour Operators revealed some incredibly impressive figures and statistics such as the fact that golf tourists spend at least double that which beach or sightseeing type tourists spend when they go on holiday, and that of the estimated 50 million active golfers in the world, at least a third of this number go on a golf holiday every year.

There is significant money to be made from the golfing tourism fraternity which is why the Brazilians have embraced golf, have the likes of Ronaldo promoting golf and now have some impressive opportunities springing up in terms of golf property investment in Brazil! Many international investors are setting their sights on the Rio Grande do Norte region of Brazil and more specifically it’s in golf property.

According to the chairman of the International Association of Golf Tour Operators, turnover from specifically golf focused tourism is in excess of 12 billion US dollars every single year, and when you add to this the fact that golf tourism is growing up to four times faster than sun, sea and sand tourism you can quite see why the Brazilians have decided to focus on the development of golfing resorts.

Because the Rio Grande do Norte region and more specifically the city of Natal are already widely accepted as the best locations in the nation to invest in – because of their accessibility from Europe, the UK and North America, the stunning beaches and vibrant way of life found in this part of the country and because of the fact that the Brazilian government accredited official research institution the Institute for Applied Economics Research recently named Natal the safest city in the whole of Brazil – it is in this part of the nation that the majority of golf resorts are being constructed.

In terms of the range of developments available combining golf courses, stunning yet very affordable residential real estate as well as a whole host of other luxurious amenities and facilities from plastic surgery clinics to spas and equestrian centres, you can choose from Grand Natal Golf which is being celebrity endorsed by Ronaldo maybe, or you can choose from one financed by Donald Trump and bearing the signature and benefiting from the design talents of Jack Nicklaus perhaps.

The key to golf property investment in Brazil is of course on finding the best located and facilitated resort where properties are being sold at the right price, where there will be long term potential for capital appreciation thanks to the promotion and ongoing advancement of the resort, and where demand is likely to be high and sustainably so for your property to rent.

Some are financed more stably than others and because there is always a risk when buying off plan of a developer hot-footing it away with your capital and providing you with nothing in return, ensure you’re confident in the money behind the development!  Property in Brazil makes for an exciting investment choice – the nation is fast developing in terms of economic stability, a great deal is being invested into the infrastructure of the Rio Grande do Norte region and into the greater promotion in Europe, the UK and North America of Brazil as an exceptionally affordable yet high grade destination for all types of tourism.

Golf property investment in Brazil is therefore the next stage in terms of that which international investors are focused on.

Outstanding Investment Opportunity

Property in Tabatinga represents an outstanding investment opportunity for overseas property investors due to its situation in an emerging area of north east Brazil, its beachfront location and its proximity to the province’s capital city Natal.

Local Infrastructure:

The existing local infrastructure (i.e. Roads; Rail; Airports) in the Tabatinga is already in place and constantly improving. The nearest city is Natal, the capital of the Rio Grande do Norte province.

Natal itself, is a clean, modern city with an advanced road system and excellent transport links both internally and abroad through the Augusto Severo international airport. Another new international airport is being built in São Gonçalo do Amarante, 15 kilometres North of Natal

Quality of life:

Mild tropical climate (27 ºC all year round), unspoiled nature, endless tropical beaches filled with coconut trees and its culture of enjoyment. Natal is perfectly positioned for modern residential tourism because of its great shopping centres, exquisite gastronomic and turbulent nightlife.

Security:

Natal is the safest capital of Brazil according to independent research of Institute for Applied Economics

Climate:

Mild, Average of 27º C with 3 degrees difference between summer and winter. Airline / Flight Information (i.e. Direct flights to location): Direct charter flights from several major European Cities. Distance to Beach: 100 Meters

High Rental Demand

Tabatinga, (Natal in general) rental demand is high with promising rental yield earnings, despite the north east’s young property market.

• Developments within the Natal region are generating rental returns of approximately 10% per year.
• Affordable property prices at Tabatinga translate to high rental earning potential over the long term.

Rental Returns Between 4% and 6%

Year-on-year rental yields are rising rapidly with average rental returns of between 4% and 6% in 2007. Substantial demand for residential properties has driven property prices up by an impressive 20% per year.

For information on one of the most exciting investment opportunities see the new Obelisk development of villas and apartment in Laguna Beach Tabatinga.

Many emerging markets
improved their levels of real estate transparency over the past two
years, with China achieving the greatest improvement in the
Asia-Pacific region, according to a report by Jones Lang LaSalle, a
professional services firm specializing in real estate.

According to the latest China edition of the Global Real Estate
Transparency Index from Jones Lang LaSalle and LaSalle Investment
Management, its global real estate investment management subsidiary,
China is currently classified as a semi-transparent market, moving up
one full level from low transparency.

“The successful staging of the 2008 Olympic Games has shifted the
focus of investors from around the world not only onto Beijing but
indeed China as a whole,” said Denis Ma, head of the research
department of Jones Lang LaSalle Beijing, adding that the index serves
as an excellent tool for potential first-time investors in China's real
estate market.

In addition to the differences between the three tiers of cities on
the mainland, Hong Kong is one of the world's most transparent real
estate markets, Taiwan has a slightly higher level of semi-transparency
and Macao has low transparency below mainland first-tier cities but
slightly higher than second- and third-tier cities.

“China's property markets are as diverse as the country itself. The
inclusion of China's second- and third-tier cities in this year's
survey helps users of the index better understand their different
challenges,” Ma added.

This is the first China edition of the index and it highlights the
key findings of the 2008 transparency survey in relation to China's
different tiers of cities. Previous China ratings reflected only
first-tier cities (constant since 1999), so the marked improvement is
significant for China, which has moved to a higher level than India for
the first time.

Based on the findings, the report said there are four key reasons for China's improvement:

1) Globalization, a major force behind real estate transparency,
with increasing capital and companies in China expediting the
requirement for accurate market information and adoption of global
practices;

2)Openness of real estate's direct correlation to the growing volume of investment transactions;

3)Increasing number of public listings by property developers and more market information through annual reports; and

4)Central government policies and more publicly available
information through the China Real Estate Intelligence Services (CREIS).

“The steady improvements in China's transparency level reflect not
only the emerging maturity of the country's real estate markets but
also the government's commitment to opening up the markets to overseas
investors,” said Julien Zhang, deputy managing director of Jones Lang
LaSalle Beijing.

Of the six areas used to determine market transparency, China
improved most in the regulatory and legal field and had the lowest
score in market fundamentals. These two areas showed the greatest
variance between the different tiers of cities.

“We are confident about China and anticipate further transparency
improvements in its real estate market over the coming years, primarily
in terms of market fundamentals, regulations and legal issues. By 2010,
we project the transparency score will move from 3.3 to 3.1 or 2.7,
putting China at the upper end of the semi-transparent category and on
a par with current transparency levels in Russia and Brazil,” said Ma.

China's improved transparency, together with the ongoing market
correction, seems to make the country's property sector more attractive
for investors.

Contracted investment in the real estate sector in Shanghai
accounted for 27 percent of all foreign direct investment in the first
half, double the same period last year, according to the latest report
from the city's statistics bureau report.

“In fact, the number of investors hasn't changed much. The higher
transaction volume is mainly due to more attractive prices in this
fluctuating market,” said Eric Chan, deputy managing director of the
Beijing branch of Savills, a UK real estate service provider.

Property price growth in China's 70 major cities has dropped for six
months in a row, with shrinking transactions and tightened monetary
policy putting pressure on property developers' cash flow.

Industry insiders said Morgan Stanley is raising $10 billion for a
global property fund and plans to put $1.5 billion or more of that into
China, despite fears the nation's property market will slide further.

Other foreign funds,
including Blackstone and Carlyle, are also looking for new investment
opportunities in high-end residential and commercial properties in
China.-

Source: ChinaDaily

Brazil boasts some of the world’s most beautiful landscapes, with some of its most stunning scenery in the north east region. Not surprisingly, tourists and property investors from around the globe are fast discovering Brazil’s attractions and the emerging Brazilian property market is currently heralded as one of the world’s most promising property investment destinations.

In the north east region alone, property prices have shown strong growth, increasing by 20% year-on-year over the last 3 years and prices are only set to continue rising. Despite such growth, property prices still remain less than a third of those in Europe.

With a massive housing shortage throughout Brazil, demand and population increase will see the need for 27 million properties over the next 15 years, driving Brazil’s property investment market. And when mortgages become available to foreign purchasers, foreign property investment into Brazil is sure to be fuelled further.

All indicators point towards excellent rewards for investment into Brazil’s property market; the existence of highly viable exit strategies through an established domestic market, increasing affluence of Brazil’s middle classes and a pro-active government investing in Brazil’s infrastructure and tourism market.

Although Brazil’s property market is still in its infancy, property investment in Brazil is showing high capital appreciation and returns for property investors.

Brazil Economic Growth and Investment

The Brazilian economy, the largest of the Latin American economies, has witnessed the greatest growth in 3 years - a 5.4% rise in GDP in 2007 alone. Brazil is 10th in the world for the highest GDP at over US$1 trillion.

Strong growth, falling inflation - expected to remain below 4%, according to The Economist Intelligence Unit - and the consistent delivery of primary budget surpluses is the basis of Standard & Poor’s allocation of a triple B minus credit rating, giving the country investment grade status, commenting, “This should help Brazil, as it could lead to an acceleration of investment there.” Preliminary data from the United Nations Conference on Trade and development (UNCTAD) expects 2007’s foreign direct investment total to have reached a massive US$37.4 billion, outstripping Brazil’s Centra Bank 2007 predictions of US$35 billion.

According to Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) Global Emerging Markets Index, Brazil has now overtaken China as the world’s biggest emerging market. This is further evidence of Brazil’s attraction to property investors.

Such consistently strong growth supports Goldman Sachs’ 2003 ‘BRIC’ theory that Brazil will become one of the most dominant economies in the world by 2050.

With all the talk about the global credit crunch Croatia is still one country reportedly escaping from these turbulences compared to most countries in the region, especially most of the larger nations more integrated into the global system.

Still, Croatia has not been completely isolated from the effect of global slowdown though. The value publicly quoted companies fell over 30% since the beginning of this year as the cost of insuring Croatian companies' debt has risen well above the levels reported in the first half of 2007.

The figures from the Croatian Bureau of Statistics showed that real GDP expanded by 4.3% year on year in the first quarter of this year, down from 7.0% in the corresponding period of the previous year.

Growth slowed in all categories of expenditure in the first quarter of 2008 compared with last year affecting the production of consumer durables, which declined 2.3% year on year in July 2008.

Nevertheless, the economy may be supported by a number of factors, and consumer spending might continue to grow as a result of rising incomes and despite tighter credit.

Added to this, rising productivity (labour productivity rose 5.3% year on year for the fist seven months in 2008) will help to boost export competitiveness, positioning Croatia well to take advantage of any recovery in external demand.

Croatian companies' profitability still remains strong, therefore encouraging further capital investment.

Property
in Greece has been a favourite of the British, Scandinavian,
Dutch and German real
estate buyers for many years. A growing economy, increasing
tourism figures, improved infrastructure and
massive regeneration investment carried out during the preparation for
the 2004
Olympics, is why Greece is heading to be one of the strong real estate
markets
of the Mediterranean.

Greece
has a wide choice of locations to consider for property investment
purposes and it's a country at a different point in the market cycle
compared to Spain
for example and it therefore continues to offer medium to long term
potential,. Greece is often overlooked by those seeking overseas
investment property opportunities.

According to latest figures, property prices in Greece have
increased year-on-year by 7% in the first quarter of 2007; prices for
apartments in Athens increased by 12% with an average price growth of
15% for all properties in other major Greek cities.

On average Athens saw house prices increase by 164% in the
period 1999 to 2002, with the rest of the country experiencing a 111%
increase.

As a whole, house prices in Greece saw
impressive growth of 214% during the period 1993 and 2006, with a 10.5%
price increase for urban property in 2006, according to Global Property
Guides.

Local
Market Demand for Property

The increasing numbers of
foreign purchasers has added to local market demand for property.
Greece's real estate market compares favourably with other
Mediterranean countries and the current period in the market is subject
to significant growth, as remarked on by numerous commentators such as
J&B Development.

The Institute for Economic
and Industrial Research (IOBE) has furthermore recognised that the
bullish property market in Greece has made a significant contribution
to the Greece's
economic growth in the last decade, which can only bode well
for its continued high performance.

As the credit crunch hits the housing market in the UK and an ever-increasing slowdown, more and more people are looking overseas for their property purchase.

Surveys have shown that 2.3 million British people are already owners of a property abroad with over 3 million people likely to buy abroad in the next two years.

High UK property prices and a worsening lending situation due to the credit crunch mean that Brits are finding it more difficult to purchase a home in their own country, therefore looking to buy second homes overseas and property investments.

Almost 25% of those overseas buyers look for an investment, having the rest doing so for residential means. It can be predicted though that in two years time this figure will almost double, up to 42%, because of property becoming increasingly out of reach for too many UK property buyers. British buyers are increasingly disillusioned with their home town market which lets them think about property markets overseas which are much cheaper in price and can result in a good investment for the future.

Of all the people surveyed, 17 percent of those over the age of 45 and 10% of those in the early age range of 18 to 34 said to be willing to buy property overseas. Most interestingly, 60% of this 10% affirmed that their purchase would be intended towards investment purposes which shows how aware the early property buyers are of the possibilities of overseas property investments.

Given these findings, Real Estate TV is airing Uncharted Territory a series that allows viewers to discover new investment opportunities, taking them to places such as Romania's Black Sea Coast, Fez in Morocco, Kerala in India, Placencia in Belize, and Buzios in Brazil.