EXCLUSIVE: Overseas interest in Thailand property dipped last month according to the monthly Top of The Props chart produced by the U.K.-based overseas property portal TheMoveChannel.com.
Thailand’s place in the list of most-searched countries on the website dropped three places to 11th during February 2014 – and it accounted for 1.51 percent of all searches. This is half of its share just three months previously in November 2013, and coincided with the worst of the political instability that saw Thailand dominating front pages and news broadcasts around the world.
But echoing the views of many experts who are predicting a strong bounce back for the Land of Smiles, Dan Johnson, Director of TheMoveChannel.com, told DDproperty.com: “We expect this to be a fairly short-term dip in interest, though, given the country’s long-term popularity.
Johnson also revealed that while enquiries for property in Chonburi Province fell during February, enquiries for property in Phuket actually increased from January.
Elsewhere in the monthly charts, demand for Australian reached a record high. Australian property accounted for 1.92 per cent of enquiries in February, more than Italy, Thailand and Cyprus. Enquiries increased tenfold from the previous month, a big enough surge to take the country up 25 places in the Top of the Props chart into eighth spot, just below the highly sought-after real estate of Turkey.
Demand also rose for French property last month, overtaking Spanish property for only the second time since Top of the Props records began in 2011. Spain has long been the favourite between the two European rivals on TheMoveChannel.com, but growing interest in France saw its share of enquiries increase to 8.04 per cent last month, making it the second most popular country in the world for the first time since October 2013.
The U.S.A. remained the most popular real estate market, accounting for more than one in five (21.07 percent) of all enquiries. This is the eighth month in a row that America has held its number one position and the country´s highest level of activity since November 2013, when it received 30.99 per cent of enquiries.
The rest of the top five remains the same, with Portugal in fourth place, cementing its current popularity among foreign buyers, and Brazil in fifth, as investors continue looking to South America ahead of the FIFA 2014 World Cup.
Johnson said: "Australia is traditionally one of the most popular destinations for British expats looking to relocate, but until now has never accounted for much activity on TheMoveChannel.com. With no marketing campaigns for Australia or notable property launches in recent months, February´s leap in demand is even more striking.
"Interest has mostly been driven by Asian investors keen to capitalise on the country´s rising house prices. Canada has seen a similar trend among buyers in the last six months, particularly from China.
“Their rise in the Top of the Props rankings shows the growing influence of Asian investors upon global real estate markets, and it is no coincidence that countries such as Spain and Portugal are vying to attract non-EU buyers through ´golden visa´ schemes.”
Andrew Batt, International Group Editor of PropertyGuru Group, wrote this story. To contact him about this or other stories email andrew@propertyguru.com.sg
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