Posts from — December 2007

The property market is cooling. Houses are taking longer to sell and going for less. But some areas will thrive in difficult conditions. We get the experts’ top tips for 2008’s hot spots in Auckland and beyond.

You’ll have to go further for Auckland’s best property deals next year, with experts tipping the outlying suburbs to be among the hot spots.

Parts of sometimes-maligned west and south Auckland are among the areas predicted to provide the best value in the cooling market, with little action expected in the central suburbs.

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In a report sure to fuel debate, Bulgaria is listed as the top performing market in the latest Knight Frank Global Price Index. Bulgaria’s prices jumped 30.6 percent in the quarter ended in September, despite “numerous concerns over the level of oversupply” in resort areas, the property company says.

While many industry experts see Bulgaria as over-hyped, Knight Frank’s numbers suggest that the country is dramatically out performing the rest of Europe.

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A break in Austria is enough to make the spirits soar. It is one of those countries where people are more than just happy to take their holidays. They thrill to its beautiful scenery, clean air and chocolate-box villages, and arrive in droves for its skiing, music festivals and Christmas markets. Yet few are the visitors who put down roots in the mountains country.

It’s a mystery, when you consider all the country has to offer – and the relatively good value of its property. For example, it’s possible to buy apartments in ski areas from less than £100,000, and in some small towns you can find studios for as little as £30,000, right in front of good ski slopes. Just an hour’s drive from the tourist-magnet city of Salzburg, you can find two-bedroom apartments and small, detached two- or three-bedroom chalets for around £200,000. Even in the more expensive Tyrol region, there are some reasonable properties, with nice two-bedroom apartments starting at around £180,000 and large chalets from £300,000.

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