Recent news from Redence about the European property market.http://www.redence.comTue, 13 May 2008 13:19:58 GMTRedencehttp://www.redence.com/news/polandsnewgovernment-82.html The plan covers sectors such as energy, financial institutions, oil and chemicals. To be put into practice, the government's privatization agenda requires an amendment to the privatisation law, so that privatisation procedures become more transparent. For now, the government's privatisation agenda has won the thumbs up from the business community.
]]>Tue, 13 May 2008 13:19:58 GMThttp://www.redence.com/news/polandsnewgovernment-82.htmlhttp://www.redence.com/news/ukhousepricesfalleasterneuropehousepricesrise-81.html Statistics from Holiday-Rentals showed that while traditional European markets such as Spain were still dominant, less-established markets were attracting an increased level of interest especially with the price of property falling in the US and UK.

Bulgaria was highlighted as one location that had seen a significant surge in the number of holiday home buyers from the UK in recent years, along with Croatia. Whilst apartments in Bucharest Romania were also on the rise for expats.

There is a growing market of Eastern Europe with people buying property for rentals to holidaymakers.

East European countries offer highly affordable properties with high capital growth rates 11to 15%.

Improvements with transport and infrastructure is another reason for its greater popularity, as eastern Europe is now much easier to reach than it was several years ago.
Croatian National Tourist Office has seen a huge increase in UK holiday makers and investor in seaside homes
]]>Wed, 30 Apr 2008 11:25:34 GMThttp://www.redence.com/news/ukhousepricesfalleasterneuropehousepricesrise-81.htmlhttp://www.redence.com/news/halfofpolesinukplantoreturnhome-80.html By Matthew Day in Gostynin

After years of haemorrhaging its finest brains, hardest workers and best plumbers to Britain, Poland could soon be welcoming its emigres back home.

The Warsaw-based Centre for International Relations, a leading think-tank, has revealed that 51 per cent of Poles in Britain plan on moving back, with just 23 per cent intending to remain in the UK.

Migration experts believe that the numbers returning will be swelled by thousands of Poles who made an economic success of their stay in Britain and have now saved enough money to buy property or start a business in their homeland.

advertisementThe report comes in the wake of speculation that the diminishing power of sterling may discourage further Polish emigration to Britain and force thousands to return home.

Economists have said that with the pound falling from seven Polish zloties last summer to around 4.7 now, many of the estimated 600,000 Poles who have moved to Britain could see their saving power slashed by more than 35 per cent.

Many of those who have returned already are setting their plans in motion. Down a rutted and frost-encrusted track deep in the Polish countryside lies the reason why Robert Kucharski left England.

With pride the 26-year-old points to the pattern of low walls marking the foundations of a house that, when completed, will command views of a nearby lake.

The money for his home comes from years toiling as a chef in London, renting just one room in a flat in Leyton with his girlfriend.

In December, and with £32,000 in his bank account, he waved goodbye to Britain. "I never planned to stay in the UK," said Mr Kucharski at his parents' house in Gostynin, a town 65 miles west of Warsaw.

The chef, who also wants to open a restaurant with his British money, added that all the Poles he knows in Britain have the same goals: save as much as they can and leave.

Although hard figures on the numbers returning remain scarce, Dr Marek Kupiszewski, the director of the European Forum for Migration Research, said: "The successful migrants are starting to come home.

They went to Britain for two years with the aim of buying a flat or starting a business back in Poland and now they can."

Poles returning home will be welcomed with open arms by their government, which, alarmed by the flight of much-needed labour as the country enjoys an economic boom, has promised to lure expats home.

With the pound's fall predicted to continue, the government may only need to make a small effort.

"With the exchange rate like that you just can't save enough money to make moving to England worthwhile," said Mr Kucharski. "This will stop people from going, for sure."

]]>Tue, 8 Apr 2008 08:32:28 GMThttp://www.redence.com/news/halfofpolesinukplantoreturnhome-80.htmlhttp://www.redence.com/news/propertyboomhitspolandaseuropeaninvestorsgoeast-79.html
The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors looked at the rates of house price growth in 26 European countries, and named other star performers as Denmark, Bulgaria and Estonia. Most countries saw solid house price inflation in 2006, with European markets failing to follow the lead from across the Atlantic, where the US property market ground to a halt.

Last year was supposed to be the year when housing markets in Europe cooled, dampened down by interest rate rises, increasingly stretched affordability and a supply increase in many markets, said the report's author, Michael Ball, a professor in the department of real estate and planning at Reading University. But in the main, Europe's housing markets had "another strong year," with several countries, including Britain, enjoying significant increases in their rates of price growth. The only country to experience a slight fall in prices last year was Portugal, while Germany continued its poor run with zero growth.

Professor Ball's report suggests that 2006 was very much Poland's year. While the influx of Polish plumbers and other workers into the UK has grabbed headlines it would appear that the traffic has been two-way, with growing numbers of British and Irish investors snapping up apartments in Warsaw, Krakow and Gdansk. Added to that, Poland now boasts one of the fastest economic growth rates in Europe, and that means growing numbers of Poles can now afford to buy. "People are desperate to move from the communist, drab apartment buildings," said Henry Wilkes, head of central and eastern European investment at estate agent Savills.

Another factor is the relaxation of lending rules which has led to more competitively priced mortgages.

Such high demand is outstripping supply, and the result has been an acceleration in the rate of house price growth in Warsaw - from 28% in 2005 to 33% in 2006. Krakow's 58% price growth has been partly attributed to the fact that a number of British and US companies have decided to open offices there, and to its burgeoning tourism industry; the city has been dubbed "the new Prague".

The Scandinavian countries continued their impressive growth. In Denmark, prices jumped by 22% last year following a similar rise in 2005, while Norway's annual rate of growth more than doubled to hit 17%, and Sweden also made it into double figures with an 11% rise.

"Something is clearly afoot in northern Europe," said Professor Ball. He added that some experts had suggested that high price expectations in an era of relaxed mortgage lending were driving up inflation.

Of the "big four", Britain, France, Germany and Italy, only the UK outstripped its 2005 performance, with house prices rising 10%, partly reflecting the lack of housing supply.

Krakow

The medieval city of Krakow has seen prices rise by up 58% and by 100% in the sought-after centre, which miraculously escaped destruction during the second world war.

"I expect this market to at least double over the next five years," says John Naughton, who runs TNIproperties.com from Krakow. The city is a three-hour flight from London. One-bed city centre flats start at £60,000 and rise to £110,000. A three-bed luxury apartment on the main square has a price tag of £650,000, but prices drop to £30,000 a half-hour walk from the centre.
Jill Papworth
]]>Sat, 29 Mar 2008 08:45:28 GMThttp://www.redence.com/news/propertyboomhitspolandaseuropeaninvestorsgoeast-79.htmlhttp://www.redence.com/news/bulgariapropertyboom-78.html
This success was noted to be primarily due to a higher tax evaluation from January 2007, and fewer development schemes being offered.

The average property price increase over the whole of 2006 was 15% with those bought for investment showing the highest increases, some as much as 50%.

Expectations were that 2007 would show a steady rise of 10% over the year as development began to slow down to meet the demand.

Bulgaria’s adoption into the EU from 1st January 2007 is expected to further stabilise prices which will ensure better returns and more security for the overseas property investor.

In addition to that, the six billion Euro investment that Bulgaria is expected to receive from the European Union structural funds will be invested in the countries infrastructure, increasing accessibility to the rest of Europe and further encouraging growth and tourism. Early investors have reaped the rewards of this expanding country and the trend is set to continue.

Investors are advised to research and select locations wisely to secure their investment, with the golf and ski locations featuring highly amongst the most popular.

Further information can be found here :
]]>Fri, 21 Mar 2008 08:54:06 GMThttp://www.redence.com/news/bulgariapropertyboom-78.html