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Number of French property purchases by Brits down slightly in 2007
France is still one of the most popular places for Brits to buy homes overseas, maintaining its second place in 2007 despite the US sub prime mortgage crisis and reports of the market going soft as people start to feel the “credit crunch.”
According to the Association of International Property Professionals’ (AIPP) annual market report, the appeal of well-established destinations for overseas home buyers continues to endure. Spain is still at number one as the primary destination, accounting for 25.4 per cent of British property purchases abroad in 2007, followed by France – slightly down year-on-year – at 17 per cent.
France and Spain’s respective market share has declined year-on-year, despite the fact that these two destinations continue to hog the top two slots in the overseas property market Top Ten. In 2006, France accounted to 18.9 per cent of the market, hence in 2007 its share had declined 1.9 per cent.
The other “top ten” property buying hot spots are USA, Bulgaria, Morocco, Dubai, Turkey, Italy, Portugal and Cyprus.
Britons spent nearly £24 billion buying international property in 2007, and around two thirds of their purchases in 2007 were in established, familiar markets. According to AIPP estimates, British buyers completed some 242,000 purchases of overseas property in 2007, which represents an increase of 21 per cent on 2006.
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