The desire amongst British people to own an overseas home, in particular along the Spanish Costas, has surged in 2014, according to statistics from the Overseas Guides Company, who saw a 20 per cent year-on-year hike in enquires about foreign property ownership in the first three months of the year.
The Overseas Guides Company, a free resource for overseas property-buyers, attracted 11,590 on-line enquiries, in the form of downloads of its free Buying Guides, during the first quarter (Q1) of 2014, compared to 9,685 in Q1 2013. Encouragingly, the first three months of 2014 were also busier than Q3 2013, historically the busiest period of any year, when 10,518 downloads were recorded.
“What was especially notable was Spain being more popular than France, typically the most dominant country for enquiries” said Angelos Koutsoudes, Head of The Overseas Guides Company. “This would indicate a return of confidence in the Spanish market amongst British buyers. The pound’s ongoing strength since the start of 2014 and the UK’s booming housing market and buoyant economy will have contributed to such a bullish first quarter. The unprecedented amount of rain and flooding we suffered in January will also have spurred people on to invest in a bolt-hole somewhere sunny.
“We see no signs of this slowing down, especially with the pound at a 16-month high against the euro – £1 was worth just €1.14 for a period back in August, but after steadily climbing it’s hovering around €1.22.”
Breaking the figures down further, January recorded the highest level of enquiries during Q1, namely 5,196 compared to 3,310 in February and 3,084 in March. Meanwhile, Spain and Ireland stood out as countries that attracted more enquiries in Q1 2014 than any quarter during 2013, although the generic enquiries with no specified country saw the largest year-on-year jump.
The Overseas Guides Company now has a database of more than 77,000 people interested in buying overseas property and/or moving abroad.
See below for an overview of The Overseas Guides Company enquiries during 2013 and Q1 2014.
By Richard Way, Editor, The Overseas Guides Company
Filed under: http://www.theleader.info/article/43668/
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