Real Estate Matters

Have you ever wondered where to find the world’s best quality of living? And what criteria would you use to choose a country? It is very difficult to attach a figure or a ranking to the experience of spending time in a place. However, International Living has been collecting data and crunching numbers for nearly 30 years, looking and ranking 192 countries. They took into account cost of living (15% of final ranking), culture and leisure (10%), economy (15%), environment (10%), freedom (10%), health (10%), infrastructure (10%), safety and risk (10%) and climate (10%).

So the country that won this year’s index was France, for the third year in a row with a final score of 85. According to IL’s 2008 Quality of Life Index, France is the best place in the world to live. Medical care, fast trains with Eurostar service across the Channel, museums, cafés, galleries, antique shops, restaurants, boutiques, jazz clubs, theaters, bakeries, parks and gardens along with three capital city airports providing easy and cheap air access to the rest of Europe made France their choice.

But very interestingly Switzerland was number 2, with a score of 84 followed closely by the United States at 83. Other countries in the top ten were Luxembourg, Germany, Australia, Italy, New Zealand, Spain and the Netherlands. To see the complete scores for every country in every category, go to: www.qualityoflife2008.com

Backing up these findings, are the results recently released by the property portal www.RightmoveOverseas.co.uk revealing that in the first half of 2008, it recorded some 10,200,000 searches for overseas property from potential buyers in the UK – up 26% from 2007. Among the 10 most popular destinations on the portal, the largest increase in searches was seen in the USA, where inquiries were up 50 percent and averaged 190,000 per month. Spain and France accounted for one third of all searches. However, buyers who want to purchase abroad but are reliant on selling their UK property have to hold out, because they are not finding buyers as quickly as they might have done a year ago. Other buyers are waiting for the Pound to get back to 1.3 or 1.4 against the Euro before committing, but the exchange rate between the Pound and the US dollar remains a clear value at 1.94, which makes investments in the US extremely attractive.

Here is my weekly real estate value in the Sarasota/Bradenton area. A four unit, turn-key furnished apartment building on Bradenton Beach, just an easy short walk to beautiful beaches and sunsets of Anna Maria Island. A very good money maker and now attractively offered at only $599,000. See more information at www.SarasotaAndKeys.com/BayDrNorth.

Cheers,

Bill Geller

 Monday, August 18, 2008

International real estate purchases in the U.S. continue to be a significant share of business for many Realtors, according to the 2008 National Association of Realtors^® Profile of International Home Buying Activity.

This new research indicates that international buying activity in the U.S. is widespread. NAR estimates that between 150,000 and 190,000 homes were sold to foreign nationals from May 2007 to May 2008. Recent foreign buyers purchased properties in every state and the District of Columbia. The most popular states where international buyers purchased homes are Florida, California and Texas. Arizona, New York, Washington and Nevada were also popular.

The typical international buyer purchased a single-family vacation home costing $297,400. Four in ten paid for their U.S. property with cash, compared with 7 percent for all domestic buyers. The typical international owner stayed at his or her U.S. property for 2.6 months during the year, according to the NAR findings.

Foreign exchange rates have helped make U.S. homes more affordable for international buyers. The euro, for example, has strengthened 24 percent versus the U.S. dollar over the past two years. Home prices are also now more affordable in places such as Florida and Arizona, contributing to those states’ popularity among foreign buyers.

International buyers are distinct from domestic buyers. International buyers tend to purchase more expensive properties, which cost an average of 36 percent more than the typical domestic buyer’s home purchase. In fact, more than 14 percent of properties sold to international buyers sold in excess of $750,000. Foreign buyers also show a greater preference for condos and townhouses compared to domestic buyers.

People from North America, Europe and Asia accounted for more than 85 percent of recent foreign home buying transactions. The top six countries of origin for foreign home buyers, in rank order, were Canada, the United Kingdom, Mexico, China, India and Germany. This year, Canada replaced Mexico as the country with the largest share of foreign buyers in the U.S. The percentage of Canadian buyers doubled from last year, from 11 percent to 23.5 percent.

The 2008 NAR Profile of International Home Buying Activity is based on responses from approximately 4,000 Realtors^® who serve foreign buyers. It describes international home buying activity in the U.S. over the 12-month period from May 2007 to May 2008 and updates information from the 2007 survey.

Cheers,

Bill Geller