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Archive for the ‘Research’ Category

Vancouver is the Best Place to Live in 2011 says Survey

Vancouver Canada is the best place in the world to live. This is according to the top 10 chart of the world’s most liveable cities revealed by the Economist Intelligence Unit. This is the fifth straight year that Vancouver, with its world class services and facilities has topped the chart. This time the report put its victory in part to the massive infrastructure boost the city received as host of the Winter Olympics 2010.

Vancouver City, Canada at Twilight

Global Housing Recovery Stalled in 2010

The recovery seen in the global housing market in the latter part of 2009 and into 2010, has stalled badly in the latter part of 2010, according to the latest figures from the Global Property Guide. This is a blow for the industry and everyone involved in it, though it is truer to what economies are currently capable of supporting, and from here should allow us to find a steadier path back to a true recovery.

Global House Price Changes 2009 to 2010

Russia and the East Leading, Emerging Market Dominant in Expat Wealth

Emerging markets are by far the best place in the world for expats to live according to the latest HSBC Expat Economics report for 2010, which compares expats’ wealth. The report compares the number of expats earning over $200,000 per year, the number with disposable income of more than $3000 per month, the number who have increased savings since moving to a different country, and the number of expats with 2 or more luxury items in their current country of residence.

As you can see below, the top 10 is dominated by emerging markets, though surprisingly China only just scraped into the top 10.

HSBCExpatLT2010

The clearest findings of the report are in the section titled “Wealth Continues to Move East”. That — as we can see from the table above – Russia and Eastern Destinations are leading the way in expat wealth.

Russia held the top spot 2 years running, it’s top spot last year was especially noteworthy, because Mercer’s also found that Russia had the highest living costs in the world.

This year, 36% of expats living in Russia are earning over $250,000 per year, followed by Singapore with 32%, then Bermuda with 27%.

This is compared to the global average of 13% of expats earning above that amount. And compared to the bottom four: Spain, where 62% of expats earn less than $60,000 per year, as do 47% of expats living in France and the Netherlands, and 45% of expats living in Germany.

Those established markets will not be proud of their position in the bottom half of the table along with South Africa, although the positions are well deserved; the global average for expats earning less than $60k is 26%.

However, to be fair, we must remember that this is a table concerning expat wealth, and is therefore more a reflection of the different reasons for immigrating to these countries than the emerging markets covered above.

While the BRIC nations (Brazil, Russia, India and China) have hardly dominated the top 10, their performance has still been impressive, in fact, according to HSBC they are still the world’s emerging market hotspots. Of expats around the world, 64% have reported increased career opportunities since emigrating, compared to 82% in Russia, and 70% in India and China.

The United Kingdom is in the bottom quarter of the table, with a very poor performance, so, it looks like we all better get packing for decent earnings and job opportunities.

Foreign Investment in U.S. Real Estate (2010) – The Stats (Realtors® Report)

The latest profile of international activity in the US housing market published by the National Association of Realtors has revealed many interesting figures, some surprising and some not so surprising.

The biggest finding for us was in the state by state breakdown of foreign purchases. According to the report, Florida (22%), California (12%), Arizona (11%) and Texas (7%) dominated in terms of the percentages of sales to foreigners this year.

2010 Wealth Report: Prime Property Back on the Menu

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Knight Frank, in conjunction with Citibank has just released its 2010 Wealth Report. The 25 page PDF document confirms what we have already pieced together from multiple reports as 2009 progressed from the first quart throughout the second half:

Prime property — which suffered last at the hands of the financial crisis, but suffered just as hard –experienced a rebound in many locations in 2009, while many more (71% according to the report) locations continued to suffer.

UK Second Home Market Grows by 40% – Savills

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More and more Brits seem to be turning their backs on owning second homes abroad and are now buying in the UK. Estate agents, Savills claim that there has been a sharp growth in the sales and demand of second homes in the UK due to a weaker sterling and the availability of more affordable UK properties. According to data to be release by Savills later this week, second homes’ sales worth £500,000 and above grew by 40 per cent in the last three months of 2009 compared to the three-year average. This compares with an uplift of just 10 per cent in total prime regional transactions.

Overseas Property Down, but, Not Out?

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According to new data from international estate agency Knight Frank, the number of Brits buying second homes rose by 2.6% last year, which not only reversed 2008′s fall, but also took the number of British second homeowners to the new high of 245,384.

Will Foreigners Buy Greek Property Despite the Financial Crisis?

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By now anyone who hasn’t been living under a stone for the last month has heard of the Greek financial crisis. Basically, Greek has a massive budget deficit and investors have grown concerned about the government’s ability to bring it back under control, which has subsequently weakened the EU and the euro — not least because it highlights similarly huge deficits in Spain, Portugal, Italy, Ireland and the UK.

Knight Frank Global House Price Index – Quarter 2 2009

A summary of the findings of this index are as follows:

  • House prices increased in nearly half of the reporting countries, suggesting a possible recovery may be on the horizon
  • The quarterly drop in house prices worsened in fewer than 25% of these locations
  • Israel is the top performer from 2Q 2008 to 2Q 2009, with an annual increase in house prices of 12.5%
  • Taken quarterly, Norway saw the largest increase from Q1 2009 of 5.3%
  • Dubai was the biggest loser over the year, dropping 47%, and was second worst on a quarterly basis, losing 7.5% from Q1 2009

Liam Bailey, head of residential research for Knight Frank has assessed the data and takes the following from it:

DTZ’s Latest Annual Report – Money into Property 2009

First published with a UK property focus back in 1975,  “Money into Property” is DTZ’s longest running annual report on the size and flow of real estate capital markets. Over time, Money into Property’s coverage has expanded into the broader European market, as well as the Americas and Asia Pacific. In 2009’s edition, Money into Property incorporated 24 countries in Europe, 11 countries in Asia Pacific and 4 in the Americas.