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Newsletter | Articles Panama and Jersey - The Next Big Thing in Property Investment Panama, Jersey, Istanbul and Slovakia are expected to be amongst the best property investment areas over the next 12 months, according to Adrian McDermott, managing director of escapes2, a Manchester based real estate company. Panama is already at the top of American investors' lists, and is now attracting interest from European investors. "Property prices in Panama City are less than half that of American cities such as Miami, and given the current weak state of the US Dollar, Panama looks a good bet for 2007," he said. In Turkey, rapid migration to the city of Istanbul has pushed up demand for housing, McDermott observed. Also the purchasing power of Turks is about to expand because of legislation that’s being passed to make land titles more secure, opening up the opportunity of loan to value mortgages. Furthermore, the high cost of borrowing from banks and a culture of raising capital by alternative means have caused developers to reduce their profit margins substantially in order to raise the required capital to get their projects off the ground. "For this reason Istanbul now represents great potential for Western Europeans as off plan development prices are considerably less than the completed projects' local market value," said McDermott. Jersey currently has a strong rental market owing to a high proportion (27 per cent) of residents living in rented accommodation and enjoys high rental yields compared to mainland UK, McDermott said. He also noted that contrary to popular opinion, there are no restrictions on non residents buying property to let in Jersey, and with the government aiming to boost its tax revenues by allowing more licensed workers into the island, property for purchase or rent will be in even shorter supply pushing up rental yields as well as increasing capital growth. "Unlike the UK mainland, prices in Jersey have been almost static for the last six years, and only recently have property prices started to move upwards, (6 per cent in the first nine months of 2006) so we believe there is plenty of room for growth in 2007," noted McDermott. McDermott's final choice is Slovakia, and in particular the ski resort areas in the Tatra mountains which have seen heavy government investment in recent times. The area is also served by Poprad international airport and the country as a whole is enjoying a period of stability and economic growth, with GDP estimated to have expanded by 8 per cent last year - the fastest in Central Europe. "Growth in the property market has been sustainable – owing to the fact that it is Slovakians who are currently purchasing, although as the country becomes more widely known to outsiders, demand for property seems certain to increase," he concluded. ILS has expertise in establishing property owning structures to mitigate against taxation issues. Find out more from Stephen Colderwood. |