[Northern Cyprus Property] Where should you be investing?

KYRENIA POST-AUGUST 2005
Property Supplement

PROPERTY FORUM

Eastern Europe Focus: Where should you be investing: Latvia, South Cyprus, Northern Cyprus, Spain, Poland, Bulgaria, all of the above? Find out...

The recent property forecasts concerning the UK was all doom and gloom as regards potential returns from UK – many even predicted house prices in the UK would remain static for SEVEN YEARS! – other analysts were predicting great things for those brave enough to dip their toes into the slightly warmer waters of foreign property invesment. Analysts’ downbeat view comes after a mere 0.2 per cent rise in UK house prices was recorded in the five weeks to June 13.

That, together with its assertion that annual UK house price inflation had more than halved to 2.4 per cent – down from 4.9 per cent the previous month, well down on the 17.6 per cent recorded in June last year, was the straw that broke the camel’s back.

Lack of demand has meant the market has ground to a virtual standstill – with sellers [of apartments, villas etc] unwilling to lower their expectations and buyers [of apartments, villas etc] unwilling to pay what they perceive as inflated prices.

So although there will undoubtedly be a soft landing for UK prices – low unemployment and low interest rates combining to allow homeowners the luxury of hanging on to their properties – analysts reckon that if the present trend continues it would take seven years for first-time buyers’ [of apartments, villas etc] incomes to rise sufficiently for affordability levels to return to previous levels.

And even if interest rates fell a further one per cent, it would still take four years.

However, look abroad and it’s a very different story.

Since 2002, house prices are up 48 percent in France and Bulgaria – and we are yet to see a slacking of that upward pressure on prices in those countries. Northern Cyprus investors [of flats, villas etc] too have seen prices escalate and upwards of 50% over the last 3 years.

In China, Australia and Spain, they have also boomed, though they are now showing signs of slowing in some places.

Low interest rates, in the main, are creating global boom. But other factors are influencing it too, including aggressive lending by banks and the search by investors [of flats, villas etc] for significantly better returns than they can realise from stocks and bonds.

Many are now asking whether these factors could also create a global bust.

But most economists believe a housing slowdown, if it actually happens, would be absorbed by the global economy without disrupting middle to long-term growth rates.

Indeed, it is possible the globalisation of this boom helps to spread out any risks.

For example, we often hear that such an economy is in trouble. But does that really matter to a Briton investing [in apartments, villas etc] in their property market? We would say an emphatic No. What matters to him/her is what is happening in Britain. Across the globe the rise of an affluent, mobile class has been phenomenal – and should ensure there are more than enough buyers around to prop up property prices [of apartments etc] for the foreseeable future.

At the end of 2004, for example, there were 8.3 million people worldwide with million or more in financial assets – up from seven million in 2000, according to Merrill Lynch and Italian analyst Capgemini.

So with all this in mind, where is a haven for your cash?

The main place is in Eastern Europe and many Britons are heading for Riga, Latvia.

But don’t forget more mainstream destinations. Gibraltar, for example, has exciting plans to promote itself as a top tourist destination. And south Cyprus prices are being tipped to rise by 50 per cent when it embraces the euro in 2007.

So where does this leave Northern Cyprus? Of course, there’s the old favourites, France and Spain. More Britons buy property [such as apartments etc] there than anywhere else – so you can be sure that their [property] markets will remain buoyant for many years to come.

In fact, we find that far from crashing, as had been predicted, the Spanish [property] market forged ahead in the first quarter of 2005.

Then nip into France and take a look at the property invesment [in apartments etc] in Montpellier, Nice and Toulouse and while you’re down south remember to take a detour to Sarlat where the government is offering interesting invesment [in properties such as apartments etc] incentives. What are we offering here as regards any incentives?

And don’t forget to check out the Loire – the latest in our France Uncovered series. There you can find renovation property [such as apartments etc] price from 40,000 euros – even in the tourist areas or Touraine and Angers.

The latter is, incidentally, delightful and a sure-fire hit with British visitors for those of you in the rental market [such as apartments etc]! In act, the popularity of the whole area with tourists makes it a safe destination for investors [of apartments etc] seeking rental income.

Northern Cyprus [property market] however, with no thanks to their nauseus xenophobic neighbours, did see a rapid decline in property purchasers [of apartments etc] in the first six months of 2005 although the last couple of months or so has seen a reverse to this downward trend. The [Northern Cyprus] property market here will always be on a roller coaster ride one way or another, so what’s new! We should be use to it by now, but on a positive note we always seem to bounce back a little wiser and always stronger... but do we learn from these lessons of sabotage and misinformation given by the southern European Cypriots? Answer ...No! And with the likes of new associations to countermand the propaganda machine of the south [Cyprus] it will be an interesting time to see what transpires from these groups determined to fight on where it would appear other fear to tread!

We think Northern Cyprus [properties such as flats in Kyrenia] is in a very good position for potential buyers [of apartments etc] , unless the propaganda machine from the south is allowed to raise its ugly head once more.

Northern Cyprus has to be one of the top ten [property] invesment destinations in Europe so... lets make it so. Northern Cyprus has to be publicised to the full in order to reap the benefits from the development and local [property] invesment made here, so we all need to support those bodies and associations that are really trying for all concerned with and within the [Northern Cyprus] property sector, but watch out for those that are trying to make a quick buck here as we feel that some are showing great concern for our welfare but are not all that they appear to be!