For decades the Algarve’s golden beaches and sunny climate have prompted many British people to buy second homes there but a new type of buyer could be about to arrive in Portugal – the investor. The recent RICS-CI Portuguese survey showed that Portugal’s domestic rental market has become especially active due to the inability of [...]
New Zealand’s residential property market is showing signs of being strong throughout the upcoming spring season. It is predicted to be a stronger season than in recent years, according to the latest report from NZ Property. The average asking price for new listings also rose significantly; from $403,474 in July to $415,0784 in August. This [...]
Property hunters are being urged to head to Italy if they are looking for a bargain property. Head of International Sales at Savills, Charles Weston Baker, recently said that houses in many parts of the country are currently between 20-30% lower than they were in 2007. Strict planning laws and a lack of oversupply historically [...]
Two changes to France’s tax system due to come into force next year could at the same time encourage more Brits to become resident there and stimulate property sales. Firstly, France is increasing the threshold at which residents pay wealth tax (“L'Impôt de Solidarité sur la Fortune”, or ISF) from €800,000 to €1.3 million. Wealth [...]
As struggling Western economies are forced into taking austerity measures, sunny Barbados has gone the other way and is cutting the number of homeowners liable to its annual land tax. In its August budget the Government of Barbados announced that the tax free threshold for its annual land tax (on the value of a property) [...]
If you’re in the right job, now could be the ideal time to move to Oz, following an appeal by the country’s largest state for British workers to help fill a 150,000 labour force shortage. Resource rich Western Australia, with a population of just two million, has thriving agricultural, manufacturing, construction, mining and automotive industries [...]
Residential properties in Bulgaria have seen a slump in price over the last year but there are signs that things could be on the verge of picking up there. The capital city of Sofia saw the average price drop by 9.4% year on year and 5.2% over the last three months, signalling a bottoming out [...]
The Caribbean hurricane season will be officially over as of 30th November, when the winter season begins in the rest of the world. This is when the islands will see an influx of tourists from Europe and America, as they try to escape the cold of their home country. It is also around November time [...]
French properties outside the capital, Paris, fell by an average of 1.6% in the first quarter of 2011, according to French notaires. This is a contrast to the cost of flats and apartments which saw an increase of 1.9% over the same period. This is thought to be because house prices were too high for [...]
According to new reports, the prices of luxury properties in Greece are being cut by up to 45% due to owners looking to sell their property quickly in a bid to avoid having to pay the higher taxes enforced by the governments latest austerity measures. Many luxury properties have had huge amounts slashed off the [...]