Notice: Undefined variable: country in C:\inetpub\wwwroot\HomesGoFast\public_html\fragments\left_column.php on line 219
Weak Dollar means cheap Dubai & Caribbean property
The decline in the strength of the US Dollar against the Euro and the Pound means that overseas property investors are in a potentially ‘win win’ situation when buying property abroad. Investors can benefit from cheaper purchase prices and capital gains on an overseas property . This is not confined to solely the US housing market.
A small group of nations have pegged their currencies to the US Dollar and there you can get just as much value when buying international real estate. A recent Daily Mail article points out that when you get 2 Dollars to the pound the same value for money applies to 'dollarised' nations such as Dubai and many Caribbean islands
The article explains that while it makes sense to convert your paper pounds into property dollars, if you can run to more than one property, savvy financial advisors recommend spreading your money across several currencies.
Martin Spreadbury, who works for an investment bank in the City, did just that. He bought a two-bedroom beachfront apartment with his brother Sean, 27, and friend Paul Bartlett, also 27, in Campeche, Mexico for U.S. £160,000 ($320,000), as well as a two-bedroom apartment with a view of a golf course for £202,000 (e300,000) in Granada, Spain.
'As the London market is so horrendously expensive at the moment, it seems a better prospect to buy in two different foreign currency markets where the pound is strong,' says Martin, 28, who did his currency deals through exchange broker Moneycorp.
He and his co-buyers will be able to use the Mexican apartment for two weeks of the year, letting it for the rest of the time through a guaranteed rentals scheme at 5 per cent a year. 'And I think we will opt to rent the Spanish property for at least five years at a return of 5 per cent, too,' says Martin.
Yet while he is certainly keen to benefit from a weak dollar, Martin feels safer knowing he has hedged his bets by buying in another currency, too.
A word of caution was given by by lawyer John Howell from the International Law Partnership he thinks we should not get too seduced by the tantalising promise of big gains in dollarised countries.
'It is one factor when purchasing a home abroad, but the most important question you should ask is whether this is the right property to buy,' he says.
Mr Howell also points out that some countries, such as Kuwait, are 'unpegging' themselves from the faltering dollar, which could leave some buyers at risk.
He says: 'If you can find a good investment that happens to be in a dollarised place, you could make money. But you might do just as well in those U.S. locations the British tend to ignore, such as Hawaii. Here, you can buy a place for just £25,000.
Nicholas Marr CEO Overseas Property Portal Homesgofast.com ‘ One example of investors benefiting from the current situation is illustrated in Barbados. We are currently offering a luxury property in Barbados for sale at 1.6 million US Dollars today’s currency rates means that investors are saving literally thousands of pounds on the purchase. Plus Barbados luxury property seems set to provide any buyer with good capital returns over the next few years'.
Specialist currency advice is essential when buying property abroad given the sums of money involved in a property transaction and the associated additional costs. Buyers need to ensure that the price that they have to pay for overseas property does not increase due to an adverse exchange rate movement.
Warning: mysql_num_rows(): supplied argument is not a valid MySQL result resource in C:\inetpub\wwwroot\HomesGoFast\public_html\view_news_all.php on line 184
Barbados
Spain
Poland
France
Portugal
United Kingdom
Cyprus
United States
Italy
Turkey
Bulgaria
India
Greece
Malta
Thailand
United Arab Emirates
Morocco
Egypt
Lithuania
Canada
Croatia
