House prices in Latvia, Estonia, Bulgaria and Lithuania are rising faster than anywhere else in the world, with national markets remaining unaffected by the current slowdown in the US, according to new research.

The Knight Frank Global House Price Index found that annual price growth in Latvia reached 61.2 per cent in the first quarter of 2007, compared to 44 per cent a year ago. But investors are starting to turn from capital Riga to other locations around the country, study authors have advised.

Estonia, Bulgaria and Lithuania all enjoyed growth of over 20 per cent during the first three months of the year, the report noted, echoing recent findings in relation to eastern European markets.

Earlier this month it was reported that Bulgaria was now the third most popular country for property buyers from the UK, taking 7.7 per cent of the market. Investors from the UK and Ireland now constitute four out of every five external buyers.

Lithuania, meanwhile, has this week revised estimates of first quarter growth up from 7.1 per cent to 8.3 per cent as GDP continues to exceed expectations.

 

News - 1.2 Million Own a Home Overseas

Foreign property ownership in the UK has rocketed in recent years, says Grant Thornton, who have analysed government statistics to estimate just how many Brits own a home abroad.

Using data from the Survey of English Housing (SEH), they note that in 2005 there were 280,000 UK households with a second home abroad, double the number in 1998, when the clear upward trend began.

Presuming that every household has two people, that works out at 560,000 people. They supplement this figure with data from the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP), which produces figures on the number of people who draw a UK pensions overseas.

There were, according to this data, 666,000 UK born people receiving a pension abroad in 2005, up from 467,000 in 1996. Add the two figures and you get a total of 1.2 million, or two per cent of the British population.

The total value of all this overseas bricks and mortar, they calculate, is a whopping £70.8 billion, nearly two-and-a-half times higher than 1998.

Spain is the most popular destination - 35 per cent of UK households with overseas property owning a house there. France is next with 24 per cent and the US third at five per cent.

When it comes to retirement properties, it's the Anglo-Saxon countries of Australia, Canada, and the US which are the top choices, accounting for half the retirees on state pensions, with Spain and France also being popular with this market.

 

News - Holiday Home Buyers Look Further Afield

At present UK overseas property ownership is concentrated in Spain(35%), France (24%) and Florida (5%), historically the top three places for Brits to buy abroad.

But for how much longer? All three, says currency specialist HiFX, are being challenged by new locations as Brits look further afield for holiday homes and good investments.

Dubai, which has a sunny climate and excellent shopping, and Bulgaria, which offers a winning combination of beach and ski resorts, are both luring British buyers away from France and SpainOther destinations which have seen a surge in popularity have been all-year round mountain resorts in Switzerland and Canada.



 

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