Overseas Property Blog :: guide to international real estate investment

With this years Formula 1 Grand Prix hotting up after just two races, we decided to feature special Formula 1 theme posts to bring some of the action to you. With every race we will feature some local information about real estate in the area so that you too can be a racy investor.

Melbourne, Australia offered a great start to the season on 16.March and only 8 of the 22 drivers managed to finish the race. The guys on the podium were:

1. Lewis Hamilton (McLaren-Mercedes)
2. Nick Heidfeld (BMW)
3. Nico Rosberg (Williams-Toyota)

Australian property market

Just like the heat of the Melbourne Formula 1 race, the Australian property market forecast is to stay very hot in years to come. According to Australian bank Westpac’s latest property statement, the residential market is still promising, despite recent interest hikes and commercial property yields at or below record lows.

The combination of a strong influx of new population (target of 167,000), plus an under supply of dwellings will keep investors happy as long as they have the financial means to keep themselves afloat.

With Australian rent increasing, which results in good profit overall for investors, the profit yield has been somewhat minimized by the higher interest rates. Despite this, the fact remains that supply remains below vacancy in most Australian markets which allows for continuous growth.

Property investors can still find great bargains away from the hype of the big cities and with a healthy investment it isn’t too late to jump onto the band wagon. In the state of Victoria, the economic forecast growth is set to be around 3.5% until the year 2010.

Malaysia races ahead

With the Malaysia’s Formula 1 Grand Prix well and truly over this year, Kimi Raikkonen drove his Ferrari first over the finish line. Raikkonen, a brand new Thai investor had a near 20 second lead. The race held on 23. March finished with the following three drivers at the top:

1. Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari)
2. Robert Kubica (BMW)
3. Heikki Kovalainen (McLaren-Mercedes)

Since the revelers have gone home recuperating from on circuit parties and too much champagne, Malaysian real estate however is still surging ahead in big leaps. Last year saw killer growth with some markets recording up to 30% increases in property value. With direct investments from countries like Japan, China and the U.S., cities such as Kuala Lumpur are forging ahead.

With a strong predicted economic growth and influx of workers, this boom isn’t going to disappear soon.

Tax incentives

With a new tax law and incentives for overseas investors, the market has suddenly taken on a new life. Overseas investors can now buy local Malaysian property above the value of around 71,000 dollars without prior government approval.

Naturally this will strengthen the luxury property market and have a positive influx into the construction market too. More demand will create more work places and with a tropical lifestyle, Malaysia has made its entry onto the international property map.

Further to this, the Malaysian government has added some more very attractive incentives to draw overseas investors into their fold.

With a strong local currency (MYR), high quality real estate and low cost living, it is no wonder that this country has become a new hot destination on the property market.

Next Bahrain…

Investors will no doubt be positively surprised by this property Grand Prix contender. Watch as we keep on driving when Bahrain heats up their machines on 6.April to report on local real estate. Before you know it, you might be the brand new owner of a new investment property along the Formula 1 Grand Prix circuit watching the next race from your own balcony sipping champagne and enjoying the purr of the super sleek Formula 1 machines.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 1st, 2008 at 12:13 pm and is filed under Australian Property, Malaysian Property, Trends. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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