Ownership of property overseas by the British alone has grown nearly 50% since 2000.
Whilst Spain has historically been the most popular choice among the British and many other nationalities for buying property off plan there is a growing interest in the emerging countries that now form Eastern and Central Europe. From Slovenia to Slovakia and Latvia to Hungary, off plan property prices compare favourably with the rest of Europe and, as low-cost airlines continue to expand into Eastern Europe, interest in this entire region is likely to increase still further.
To satisfy this growing interest in off plan property and the Eastern and Central European region www.offplanproperty.info has been created to pull together the vast array of disparate information available on the Internet into one coherent and easy to use portal. It is aimed purely at those interested in buying off plan property for investment or holiday home purposes.
This interest in overseas property investment has been fuelled in recent years by low interest rates and stock market returns. In the UK the substantial increases in property values has also provided equity that is able now to be released allowing those that could previously not perhaps afford to purchase property abroad to do so.
Some of the countries covered are relatively immature where foreigners have only been allowed to buy property very recently in their own name or in some cases by setting up a company incorporated in that country. Many have already witnessed something of a price explosion, increasing by anything up to 50% over the last two years. All the vital signs are that prices in the main will continue to rise for the simple reason that Eastern European properties in particular are still comparatively low in price. Also, whilst some have already joined the European Union, others have not - a factor that historically has fuelled price rises in those countries as they get closer to and achieve entry.
In certain cases the natural geography of a country is fuelling growth in the property market. Bulgaria for example has attractive skiing destinations with high altitude resorts and plentiful snow. It is also applying to host the winter Olympics in 2014. The advantage of buying property off plan is that the build cycle can be anything up to two years and with staged payments over the period. The expectation that property prices will continue to grow combined with the lower deposits initially required with buying off plan property affords the buyer less initial risk and the opportunity to, if required, sell on either before or after completion at a higher price.
www.offplanproperty.info is owned and operated by Off Plan International Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Balkan Holdings plc which in turn is a holding company with diverse business interests in Eastern and Central Europe.


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