The financial landscape in 2008 has been dominated by dramatic declines on stock markets and currency crashes; this has resulted in instability in many nations’ economies as the very fundamentals upon which stable economic practices are built have been undermined. In the UK we’re living in a state where inflation is rising, interest rates are falling, our currency is declining in value and property prices are stagnating. All in all this presents a pretty bleak backdrop for would-be real estate investors, as well as for those hoping to get on the property ladder. Conversely however, in certain specific corners of the world, there are positive predictions for key property markets in 2009. (more…)

Tunisia, North Africa’s smallest nation, may not be so much under attention as Morocco and Egypt in the current property press, but it is about to make a big impact.

Property prices are as low as Morocco was five years ago and an advantage is that unlike destinations like Brazil and other distant investment hotspots, Tunisia is close enough and a good investment too. It is only three hourse flight from London.

Tunisia is just south of Italy’s Sardinia and it has unbelievably 1,400km of Mediterranean coastline. The sandy beaches host an infrastructure of hotels, international airports, boutiques and marinas.

As tourism becomes more important, leisure facilities are showing up at a significant rate, particularly around the resorts of Hammamet and Monastir. Tunisia now boasts six golf courses, international diving centres and many yachting clubs.

Further golf courses and marinas are to come together with world-class sporting academies, Olympic grade facilities, business and leisure hubs and more residential units and hotel beds. With such a broad offer it is rare that it is not seen as a property investment hotspot. Why? Currently, the Government prevented foreigners from owning Tunisian property if the national home ownership was below 80 percent, which isa figure even higher than in the UK. This was to stop foreigners pricing the Tunisians out of their own market.

Now this has been achieved some nationalities are welcome to purchase the benefit is that the affluent home-owning Tunisians have now an exit strategy. Similarly, with the purchasing power to take regular holidays within their own country, Tunisians, plus neighbouring Algerians, will also boost rental occupancy.

Romania will be benefiting EUR 1.5 bln of European funds in 2008, according to the Secretary of State of the Ministry of the Economy and Finance (MEF) Eugen Teodorovici. To date, Romania has received EUR 2 bln in European funds according to the secretary of state.

Transport and environment infrastructures are the main areas where the funds are to be directed to.

The EUR 1 bln national financing for the Cernavoda-Constanta, Lugoj-Arad motorways and Constanta ring road will be replaced by EU funds. said the MEF official. The three projects are of an estimated value of 2 billion euros half of which coming from the European Investment Bank and the other half from Romanian state contribution.

Also, the Ministry of Economy is holding talks with European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) representatives on setting up a fund to finance projects implemented by the local authorities. The whole idea is that this fund should be backed by commercial banks with financing and by the Romanian state. For now, the MEF, Eugen Teodorovici is having talks with the EBRD on how to eventually operate these funds and the procedures governing the allocation of those sums.

According to how fast the talks to EBRD go, the conditions under which the new fund would be created might be agreed on before the end of this year.

Brits with  overseas property are raising mortgages on their  properties abroad as the  credit crunch bites and finance is severely restricted in the UK.  Assetz Finance is now offering a remortgaging service for holiday homes,  after a 50% increase in enquiries regarding cash-raising  mortgages on European property since the start of the credit crunch.

Whilst credit has dried  up to a large extent in the UK, overseas property owners are realising  the potential of their overseas property investments as an alternative  way of raising cash. Many want to buy property in the UK but don’t  have the large required deposits. Others want to use the  funds to help their children in buying their first home, or to raise  funds to help them out of the credit crunch.

Mortgage brokers in the  UK are able to partner with Assetz Finance, to help their clients to  raise deposits for property purchases in the UK. Brokers are then able  to access the many deals currently available with high deposit  requirements for their clients.

Katy Hepworth, Overseas Mortgage Manager at Assetz Finance comments:

While interest rates  have risen in Europe and borrowing is no longer available at 3-4% as it  has been in the past, European lenders are still doing business as  normal and most have not tightened their lending criteria. They are in  a position to continue lending whilst their UK and US counterparts are  severely restricted, and British holiday home owners are beginning to  take advantage of this opportunity.

A French holiday home  owner could raise £100,000 using a 20 year Euro mortgage from a French  lender at a rate of 5.4% for an interest only mortgage and 5.25% for a  capital repayment mortgage, both of which are readily available.

To many doom-mongers, the overseas property investment scene and Britain’s property scene are both one and the same – once good news stories that have now turned bad since the credit crunch hit, leading to nothing but trouble, losses and broken dreams.

Others, however, will state that this is far from the reality. For instance, Exchange Bond reported in April that British and Irish investors own 3.81 million overseas properties overseas. Moreover, it tipped this total to rise by between eight and ten per cent. Clearly, it seems, someone out there is still finding good reasons to buy.

The truth about the market is more subtle than just boom or bust, according to the chief executive officer of Homesgofast.com Nicholas Marr. He noted that the crunch has seen some markets – such as Spain – doing particularly badly but also suggested that slowdown does not mean shutdown. (more…)

Romania is still ‘the undiscovered Europe’ with demand outstripping supply in many property sectors, according to the latest analysis of the country.

EU membership, a growing number of tourists and rising numbers of property investors have all helped to make the first half of 2008 a good year for the real estate sector.

Also the growth of multinational companies such as GE and Proctor & Gamble has already pushed up the attractiveness of Bucharest in the buy-to-let market.

The commercial sector is booming because of soaring demand for modern office buildings, according to the 2008 real estate market overview report from CB Richard Ellis.

‘The demand for office space is driven by the auto industry, financial institutions, retailers and IT and telecoms. Vacancy rates in the office sector are below an overall rate of 3% with only 1% for premises considered to be Class A,’ the report says. (more…)

The Wall Street Journal stated Merrill Lynch & Co. raised $2.65 billion for an Asian real-estate fund in a sign that investors see opportunities in the region’s weakened property markets.

The company will invest in real-estate assets and property companies, with a focus on Japan, China, South Korea and India. There are exceptional opportunities in Asian real estate over the medium and longer term according to Tim Grady, Merrill Lynch’s regional head of global commercial real estate…

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You can expect the best when you invest in Bulgarian ski property, with Bansko being one of the best offers. Getting more than four months of skiing season and displaying a beautiful landscape with snow capped mountains and a summer season attracting holiday makers in neighbouring villages like Banya.

There are many reasons for you to invest in Bansko, the property market there is almost at its infancy, with land prices already reaching ten times the price they had initially.

Bansko is just between the Pirin, Rila and Rhodope Mountain ranges getting a wide array of skiing locations, up to 2,500 metres above sea level.

Down from the mountains to the town, we can find all the amenities and facilities together with lovely decorated houses, ancient fortresses and more that 100 cultural monuments, including the Holy Trinity Church, boasting a thirty metre high bell tower and clock as well as intricate wood carvings.

The nearest airport is just 2 hours drive away, in the busy city of Sofia, with a new airport right in Bansko being built meaning accessibility and convenience for travellers. There are a whole host of taverns, pubs, entertainment outlets, shopping arcades and medical facilities within Bansko town, nearby villages and outlying cities. English is one of the main languages spoken there, with staff and people well versed in the language.

According to the Times Online, if the cost of home loans fell by a further half-point, the current worsening housing market situation could be over as soon as next year

Morgan Stanley’s chief UK economist, David Miles, said that if mortgage rates stayed at present levels, an educated guess from sophisticated economic estimates was that house prices would fall by another 5 to 10 per cent and wipe a further £17,000 off the value of an average home before the market bottomed out next year.

However, Professor Miles, who previously has advised Gordon Brown, added that if a recent decline in the cost of mortgage funding continued, price falls could soon end.

Speaking to the Treasury Select Committee, he said: “If the cost of funding to lenders were to move down half a point, then the 5 to 10 per cent fall could turn into a much smaller number, or not much at all.”

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Polish investor Echo Investment and architect MOFO-BH Stúdió have presented plans for the €200 million Mundo shopping and entertainment centre, the largest property investment in Budapest’s District XIV. Construction will reportedly begin in the first quarter of 2009.

The Mundo center, surrounded by public parks and an office complex, will use up 65,000 square meters in the area bordered by Bosnyák tér, Csömöri út, Rákospatak utca and Mosztár utca. The centre is scheduled to open in the begining of 2010.

Echo Investment, one of the largest real estate investors in Poland, bought the 6.8-hectare plot currently used as a sports complex from the Zugló district government in June 2006. Requirements for the planned complex include integration with the surrounding suburban environment and with local government developments.

The Mundo center, with a passage and square in front of its main entrance, will connect to the Bosnyák tér church, the planned cultural center at the site of the tram garage and a sports center to be built behind the office buildings.