Which country should I buy in?

[AnotherPropertyGuy]

I have just sold a property in New Zealand and am looking for a new home for my money.

I am pessimistic about property prices in US, UK, Australia and New Zealand.

I wonder how much further Eastern Europe will rise or whether it is peaking.

My gut feeling is that Asia is the best place for risk/reward at present.

Which country do you think I should invest in and why?

[John]

Welcome to the forum AnotherPropertyGuy!

I would be very interested in hearing where in Asia are you seeing as the best place to invest at the moment? Also, the reasons why.

The US certainly does seem like a no go area at the moment, however I think there are parts of the UK which are still definately worth looking at. As for Australia and New Zealand - I have little or no knowledge of these markets, but hopefully others can comment on that here.

Eastern Europe is a big place. Even within countries like Poland and Czech Republic there are huge variations in returns, so I would most definately say it is not a good idea to judge "Eastern Europe" as a whole and give it a thumbs up or down accordingly.

[propertastic]

John is right - you can't look at Eastern Europe as one region as it consists of around 15 different markets all in very different stages in development, including:

Albania, Moldova, Macedonia - just beginning to get off the ground
Romania, Polish & Czech Third-Tier Cities, Slovakia, Montenegro - tremendous growth over the past 12 months, but how long can it last?
Latvia, Estonia, Bulgaria's Black Sea - burned out and on the way down.

There are definitely still opportunities in Eastern Europe, but you need to look for them and plan your exit strategy. I'm tipping Bratislava out of Eastern Europe for 2008.

I am still very bullish about Egypt's Red Sea resorts and I'm not the only one. The Egyptian section of the site is the most active for a reason - there are a lot of educated buyers who come to this site that can also see its potential.

You can find details of the opportunities in 16 developing markets in Eastern Europe and North Africa at my site:

Investment in Property & Real estate Europe- Bulgaria Turkey Croatia

[AnotherPropertyGuy]

Thanks John and Propertastic! It's great to see such an active community

I would not consider Albania - it feels pretty lawless to me. Bratislava seems like a 'safer' choice.

I was in Slovenia 3 years ago and was amazed at the hospitality of the people and the beauty of the landscape. On that experience alone, I would consider it but I know little about property matters there.

Montenegro also sounds like a beautiful place and having recently gained independence and it's inevitable joining of the EU should boost the country.

As far as Asia goes, I think Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) offers excellent value for money (I have an apartment there). £50,000 will buy you a decent 3 bedroom apartment in a condo with shared pool, tennis court, security etc. The economy is growing at about 6.5% per annum. The country is politically stable. There is strong demand for housing from the young, urbanising workforce. Rental yields are about 7-8%.

I have heard that Bangalore (India) offers some of the highest rental yields in the world (more than 10%) but I've not read much about it. Certainly India is growing strongly.

Sri Lanka is more risky as it's economic and political situation is not that stable. However, property prices are very low so when the country does stabilise I think property prices will multiply.

Overall, I feel that property in North America, Europe and Australasia are overvalued and that stockmarkets are fully valued. So what does this leave?

[The Soup Dragon]

AnotherPropertyGuy. You have had some interesting responses which will no doubt result in you researching one or two more seriously. I tend to agree with Eastern European comments here. Was very intersted to hear that Sri Lanka interests you. I'll forward a PM to you on this as I too am interested in that area. I suggest that if either of us find anything interesting there we let the other know!

[Creative Source]

I am interested by the couple comments about Sri Lanka. I am born and bred British but my parents are Sri Lankan and I go back often as we have a family home there ( Mount Lavinia). I am going there on holiday in a couple days in fact and will no doubt do some property hunting.
The Colombo properties are not cheap. They are over inflated by the demand from the rich expat communities in England, Australia, Canada and the US. I don't think there is any money to be made in Colombo property. Outside Colombo on the sea front is definitely the areas with potential and a lot of Germans abd Austrians have bought there. There may be restrictions in place n how far one can build houses from the sea front after the Tsunami struck.

CS

[lyes]

Hi evrey one, there's a lot of interesting information on this forum, if you're interested on Dubai, lets keep in touche, actually i'm working with Damac Properties and my contact me.

[lyes]

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

[AnotherPropertyGuy]

Originally Posted by Creative Source

I am going there on holiday in a couple days in fact and will no doubt do some property hunting.

Have a great trip to Sri Lanka CS. I'd be very interested to learn of what you discover regarding property while you are there. I also feel that the coastal regions, particularly in the south, have great potential. What I like about it is that even were an investment not to rise in value, the Sri Lankan people are warm and friendly, the climate is pleasant and the scenery is beautiful. So really, you can't lose.

Merry Christmas all.

[Ginger]

UAE is still a place to invest, it might slow down in couple of years, but prices are still growing well, 10-15% increase in the market predicted next year as per Dubai One TV channel... and this is for ready-to-move-in property, imagine how much you can make on off-plan...
Is is not as crazy as it was 3-4 years ago, when people made 3-5 times their money, but... can be serously considered I am sure...