If you invest in properties in your local area, you may be thinking about branching out into the overseas market, where the housing market is less static and more lucrative. Some of the most tantalising aspects of overseas property investment overseas can include better capital growth and higher rental yields than a typical buy-to-let property in your country, but there’s also many hurdles and risks involved: foreign property laws, the long-distance relationship between an overseas tenant and their landlord, and foreign property markets drying up at the worst time. Therefore, you need to think about where you’re going to start if you want to get anywhere.
Portugal
Both Portugal’s capital city of Lisbon and the picturesque Algarve region are prime spots for property investment, with Lisbon’s value growing exponentially due to a rise in tourism, and the lower price of living in the city as opposed to other hotspots like Rome, Madrid and Paris. Restrictions on coastal construction in the Algarve region will keep the current property there highly valuable, providing a long-term stability that’s hard to find.
Spain
Both Barcelona and Madrid are becoming more and more popular with continental investors, despite its reputation as a dead end due to the Spanish Housing Crisis in the late 2000s. Tourism is fuelling this rise alongside expats purchasing the homes left over from the housing bubble. After Berlin, Hamburg and Dublin, Madrid was the 4th most attractive city for investment in Europe last year.
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
London is infamous for being a high-risk, high-reward market that makes and breaks real estate tycoons, and overseas investors are looking to snap up the best deals from a safe distance. Focusing on areas currently being renovated and improved, or quiet parts of the greater city area can be a lucrative venture, but be wary of the fact that London’s investment market can fluctuate wildly, especially in today’s political climate.
Colombia
Both Bogota and Cali, rapidly expanding cities in the Latin American nation of Colombia, are also becoming superb prospects for rental development. A rise in tourism, business visitors, the undervalued Peso and a rising middle class are producing the conditions needed for a booming rental market ripe for overseas investors.
Mexico
When it comes to Mexico, it’s resorts and the old parts of town that offer the best opportunities: places like Playa del Carmen, San Miguel de Allende and Merida are rapidly growing via tourism, as well as the Mexican Peso being undervalued to the US Dollar, which is used as the currency of choice for real estate, while Pesos are used for expenses. Average occupancy rates are high, and the resale market in resort towns like Carmen and Allende is strong.
If you play your cards right, your overseas property empire could end up more profitable than your local efforts. Knightsbridge Ventures are a new property investment company bringing fresh new investors into Europe and overseas.