Signs of increased confidence as Mediterranean begins spring takeover

Highlights

• 60% of indexed locations saw increases in searches, 40% decreases, 0.1% no changes
• Mediterranean countries are on the up this month as thoughts begin to shift from winter sports and emigrating to the summer season
• Alentejo (Portugal) is our top climber this month, up 22 places with searches up by 27.3%
• Tuscany consolidates its place as favourite Italian region with an increase of 12.5% in searches
• Emigration hotspots New Zealand, Australia, and Canada are biggest losers in our country chart, down an average of 17% on January as the peak emigration season starts to tail away
• Germany’s ascent falters with Berlin the biggest faller, down 44.6% on last month

Commentary

After adjusting for this being the shortest month, February actually saw an increase on January searches, in stark contrast to last year’s drop off after the January peak. Year on Year February searches are up 54% on 2009 which is really encouraging for the market. We’re also starting to see signs of increased confidence from advertisers. This month, the number of new advertisers choosing longer contract periods doubled on January’s new joiners, indicating an much improved long term outlook on the state of the market.

Commenting on the climbers and fallers in this month’s search chart Robin Wilson, Head of Overseas at Rightmove said:

“As expected, the new year surge in Australian and New Zealand interest looks like it’s on the wane now as those simply dreaming of emigration, rather than actively investigating it, lose impetus and drift away. Oceania’s loss is the Mediterranean’s gain though, with good lifts in search activity for Greece, up 8.2%, Malta up 11.3%, Spain up 2.5% and Italy up 0.9%.

The surge in German searches also looks to be cooling, but the gains made through Summer 2009 look like being permanent. It may only be a matter of time before Germany joins the Top 10 country club.”

Search Data Highlights (download full PDF report)

Top 10 Climbers and Fallers this month (areas with > 100 searches a day)

Top 10 Trending^* Searches this month (areas with > 100 searches a day)

These are the locations showing the most consistent positive performance in searches on Rightmove Overseas.

*Chart Trend is a rolling average of the three previous monthly changes in chart position

Editors Notes

This data is compiled from searches made by users of www.rightmoveoverseas.co.uk during the period 1^st February to 28^th January 2010. Our website records explicit searches that users make for locations chosen from our map based search, or that are entered into search fields and includes tourist regions we have defined for ease of recognition.

• % Change Searches is the % change in searches on the previous month
• Chart position is absolute and determined by aggregate search volume for that location i.e. all the explicit searches for the location plus any explicit searches for sub-regions of the location e.g. Searches for ‘France’ include searches for ‘Paris’.
• Monthly Chart Change is the difference in chart position on the previous month.
• Quarterly Chart Change is the difference in chart position from 3 months ago.
• Yearly Chart Change is the difference in chart position from 12 months ago.
• Chart Trend is a rolling average of the three previous monthly changes in chart position.

The data in this report does not constitute specific advice, forecast or recommendation and is for general interest only. Readers must perform their own research and seek independent professional advice before making any decision to purchase or invest in property abroad.

About Rightmove Overseas

Rightmove Overseas is part of Rightmove.co.uk, the UK’s number one property website and advertises properties for sale in over 90 countries around the globe from agents, developers and owners. On average, Rightmove Overseas receives 80,000 unique visitors a week and generates over 1,000,000 overseas property searches a month for advertisers. Visit us at www.rightmoveoverseas.co.uk.