Property markets across Europe have seen a boost in enquiry levels as Brits look into the possibility of buying a second home abroad, statistics suggest.
The statistics, released by the Overseas Guides Company, found that there were a record number of enquiries about properties in France, Italy, Spain and Portugal during the summer of 2013.
A contributing factor to this could be the interest from the over-50s market. Research from the deVere group has found that nearly half of over-50s are considering a move to Europe as part of their retirement plans, moneyobserver.com reports.
The Overseas Guides Company saw an increase of over 2000 downloads of its overseas buyers guides in the third quarter of this year, totalling 10,518, when compared with downloads of just 8,089 in the same period of time in 2012. These figures constitute a 30 per cent rise in demand for overseas property information year on year in the third quarter of the year.
Richard Way, editor at the Overseas Guides Company, told propertywire.com that growth in interest amongst traditionally popular holiday spots has attracted the most amount of interest. France Spain and Italy have all seen a 50 per cent rise in enquiries for the year to October.
Mr Way said: "Reasons for this surge are varied. At home in the UK, there is a growing confidence in the economy, as well as consistent upward pressure on house prices. Meanwhile, most of the Eurozone is still very much buyers market, with property prices either at rock bottom or close to it, and mortgage rates at historic lows."
Are you looking to buy property in France ? Dordogne , Paris , Charente , Grimaud , Beziers
Are you looking to rent property in France ? Paris , Cannes , Bordeaux , Lyon , Marseille
Author
Michael McFadyen