Back to school season sees serious buyers take action

Highlights

• 50.25% of locations saw an increase in searches, and 49.64% of locations saw a decrease in searches
• India makes it into the top 20 country search table
• Ireland climbs to 12^th place
• Surge in interest for France, Dordogne searches up 43%
• 9 out of 10 falling regions are long haul destinations

Commentary

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

“The summer holiday season is well and truly finished and the feedback from Rightmove Overseas advertisers is that buyers are returning in a positive mood and are booking trips to view properties. The French region of the Dordogne saw a 43% increase in searches month on month, fuelled no doubt by the popularity of the TV series ‘Little England’, which showcases Brits living permanently in the region. Other French regions to have done well in September are the Midi-Pyrennes, Lot-et-Garronne and Charente-Maritime. Meanwhile, the biggest leap in Spanish searches came in the ever popular region of Valencia which has increased by a staggering 113% since August.  

At the other end of the spectrum, the USA accounted for 6 of the top 10 falling regions in September. There we 3 Australian regions with big drops in searches and closer to home the Turkish region of Mugla noticeably fell by 27%. With increased travel costs, it appears that on the whole overseas buyers are looking for a safe investment, not too far from home in a country that can offer capital appreciation in the long term”.

Richard Way, Editor at Overseas Guides Company, commented:

“The hike in popularity of Spain’s Valencia region is likely to be down to the high concentration of repossessed property on the Costa Blanca: word is out that some of the country’s most heavily discounted homes can be found there, particularly in the south around Torrevieja. Meanwhile, complementing this trend, Ryanair has just announced a new route to Valencia from Manchester starting next spring.

“Always a favourite with UK buyers, France’s appeal to expats received a recent boost with the announcement that next year the threshold for wealth tax will increase, while a change to its capital gains tax law will abolish the 15-year exemption rule and should kick start more owners into putting their homes on the market. This month’s statistics also show how British buyers are discovering more of France’s lesser trodden areas where property, especially inland, is noticeably cheaper than more established expat areas.”

Search Data Highlights

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 Rightmove Overseas Search Report from our blog including Top 40 locations, Top 20 countries with regional breakdowns for Spain, France, Italy, Portugal and the USA.