Alps and Antipodeans bring sunshine to seasonal slow down

Highlights

•  45% of indexed locations saw increases in searches, 40% decreases, 15% no changes
• Australia and New Zealand improve their market share for the second consecutive month by 17% and 12% respectively and are the only two countries in the Top 20 to increase searches this month
• Germany, Switzerland and Austria recovering fastest with more year on year searches than 2008
• India jumps into the Top 20 leap-frogging the United Arab Emirates and Egypt
• The Caribbean Windward Islands became the fastest climber, up an average of 33 places a month

Commentary

Looking back over historical data we’re seeing the same kind of seasonal effects on search patterns as in previous years. Activity took a huge knock at the end of 2008 when the Credit Crunch and collapse in buyer volume was really biting, but some countries have weathered the storm better than others and we’re seeing the first signs that prospects are improving with 4 of the Top 20 countries registering positive growth on last year’s equivalent monthly performance.

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

“Whilst most countries are seeing declining search volumes in line with the usual seasonal slow down, Australia and New Zealand are ignoring the Christmas hype and throwing another turkey on the Barbie, notching up increases to both their market share and overall search volumes. It’s an impressive performance and bodes well for the New Year when resolutions and emigration dreams really kick in and drive lifestyle buyers.

The stealth success story of 2009, Germany, continues to perform well joining Austria, Switzerland and Australia as one of only 4 countries hitting higher monthly searches in October 2009 than 2008. Germany also recorded 2^nd and 3^rd place on our top trending locations by delivering consistent positive growth month on month and, unlike Austria and Switzerland, may not see a decline as the winter sports season fades. Germany certainly seems one to watch in 2010 and points towards it possibly being among the fastest recovering destinations in 2010.

India makes the leap into the Top 20 for the first time, buoyed by a well received show from Hamptons and positive PR around the commonwealth games they are hosting in 2010. With a huge base of savvy British Indian investors to draw on, Indian property developers and agents seem well placed to capitalise.”

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

You can download the full Rightmoveoverseas Search Report from our blog including Top 40 locations, Top 20 countries and detailed regional breakdowns for the Top 5; Spain, France, Italy, Portugal and the USA.

Editors Notes

This data is complied from searches made by users of www.rightmoveoverseas.co.uk during the period 1^st October to 31^st October 2009. 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. This month 51,209 locations have received searches.

• % 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.