2012 a year to look for great buys in Europe, says investmant guide
Istanbul and Limassol are named as potential property hotspots in the new 2012 City Investment Guide from Property Venture.
It predicts that 2012 should be a year to look for great buys in Europe as not all countries are suffering in quite the same way and just because the economic climate in one country doesn’t look great, it doesn’t mean that every city in the country is suffering.
It points out that there are many thriving cities to invest in for attractive returns. What’s more the divide in Europe is no longer about East versus West, but which country has a decent sovereign credit rating.
The guide says that city property, in particular, as opposed to holiday home, seasonal, or smaller town property, can be seen as a ‘safer’ investment, as long as the city has decent prospects, in a country that is stable and performing well on the world stage.
New developments in 2012, such as infrastructure improvements, provide a substantial boost to the property market and in turn, stimulate demand.
Krakow and Warsaw are mentioned as the UEFA 2012 Football Championships are to be held in Poland and Ukraine, so stadia and roads have been built to accommodate the sporting event. Warsaw will host matches and even though Krakow will not have a match there, it is rumoured as a hot favourite as the England team’s choice for their base camp.
A proposed relaxation of rules in 2012 around non-Turkish nationals buying property, is likely to create a $10 billion property market, spurred by sales to Arabs in Turkey, according to the guide.
The proposed change in Turkish law would drop reciprocity conditions, whereby only foreign nationals are able to buy property in Turkey, whose host country allows Turkish nationals to buy in their country.
‘From a property perspective, this increased demand will spur property prices, particularly in places such as Istanbul, a city partly in Europe, where yields can be as high as 7% to 10%,’ the report says.
The new marina in Limassol, Cyprus, will be operational 2012 and it is predicted it will have a positive impact on the local economy, not only generating jobs, but also attracting a more upmarket clientele to the cosmopolitan city.
With a population of about 180,000, there is a significant cohort of Russians who are permanent residents and who run businesses from Limassol. It is also a year round city for many Northern Europeans who want to escape harsher, colder winters, on the beaches and shoreline of Limassol, the report says.