Print

December Top of the Props

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Spain ousted the USA in December's Top of the Props chart - which provides a monthly pop chart snapshot of the most popular countries on the site - Portugal remained in third place - the position it had occupied in November's chart - so let's check out what the property industry thinks the country has to offer investors and holidaymakers alike in 2010...

Portugal

Let's start with a comment that will have the tourists flocking to Portugal should it prove true.

Portugal football captain Cristiano Ronaldo told Goal.com that he expects next summer's World Cup in South Africa to be the best ever finals tournament and he also believes his team has what it takes to go all the way to glory.

"Our team will be more mature in South Africa. We will be a team that went through some difficult stages in qualifying. In recent months many things have improved, a team doesn't happen overnight.

"There are several teams that can win the World Cup and Portugal is among them. But we need good things to happen: we must work hard, we have confidence. We have the support and we can get lucky, or at least hope that the luck we have is not bad," he said.

Meanwhile, Homes Go Fast expects Algarve tourism to rebound in 2010.

"Portugal's Algarve Region expects more tourism in 2010. The most recent annual survey by the regional tourism board, ERTA, indicated that local officials and businesspeople expect the area's tourism sector to rebound in 2010. Approximately 32 percent of those surveyed said that 2010 will show increases over 2009, while 41 percent indicated things will remain the same. Another 23 percent are looking for things to get worse this year.

Those who took the survey also indicated that the Algarve Region should invest in drawing visitors from traditional markets but also new ones. Traditionally the Algarve draws visitors from the UK, Ireland, Germany, Holland and Spain, while newer markets include Russia and Eastern Europe as well as Scandinavian Countries."

Property-Abroad.com suggests that Portugal offers a good alternative to old favourite Spain this year; "Portugal's economy is now firmly out of recession, with a 0.9% growth in the third quarter, following the 0.5% growth recorded the quarter before.

Portugal's economic strength is leading to Portugal property becoming very popular. It is apparent that some of those people currently enquiring into and buying Portuguese property, are those who would normally have been looking at Spain, but are choosing Portugal because its economy is in much better shape than its neighbours.

There is another reason for Portugal's current popularity, according to Liam Bailey, director of sector specialist copywriting company Write About Property.

"The people who are currently buying overseas property are those well enough not to have been affected by the downturn thus far. They are returning to market now because, as it becomes more clear that the recovery is underway, it becomes less likely that they will be affected. Golf is a very popular sport among those who are "well off", so the Algarve, Europe's golf centre is obviously doing very well with the current wave of buyers," he said.

The fact that Portugal property prices are currently growing, according to the Knight Frank index of global house prices, is undoubtedly also a factor in Portugal's current popularity with overseas property buyers.

As is the array of excellent offers currently being made by developers and agents in the country. Things like: free furniture packs, maintenance fees paid for 2 years, cash back, guaranteed rental yields and more -- most properties are also mentioning the availability of financing for Portugal property purchases."

And ANSAmed suggests that 2010 will be good for the Portuguese economy too, predicting that it will grow by 0.8%, after the 2009 GDP reading of a 3.2% downturn.

The country is reportedly to grow at a slightly faster rate than the Euro Zone (0.7%), but unemployment will continue to increase over the coming year representing an obstacle for economic growth as well as the public deficit.

Excluding Spain, the only economy in the Euro area that will still be in the crisis in 2010, the primary client economies for Portugal - Germany and France - will record expansion above the Euro Zone average which the Portuguese economy might also benefit from.

But its not all roses for Portugal - for the Fitch, Moody's and Standard & Poor's ratings agency, Portugal will be the last country to come out of the crisis. The increase in unemployment, the high deficit, the public debt and external accounts in the red are the reasons that explain the weak future importance of the Portuguese economy.

Other movers and shakers

Spain forced the USA into second place, swiftly followed by Portugal and Bulgaria. Brazil was pushed into fifth place in December's chart, with Italy chasing close behind. Turkey and France took seventh and eighth places respectively - a drop from fifth and sixth places.

Rounding out December's Top of the Props chart was Cyprus in ninth place and Thailand in tenth.

December Top of the Props Chart

Spain

USA

Portugal

Bulgaria

Brazil

Italy

Turkey

France

Cyprus

Thailand

Check out properties for sale in Portugal at http://portugal.themovechannel.com/

Picture of Lisbon by Carlos Ebert

Bookmark This Page

Tag, share or bookmark this page:

Recent Related Stories

Subscribe to Newsletters