More buyers from economic hit Eurozone looking to buy luxury property, research suggests

Enquiries from potential buyers of luxury property in countries that have been suffering from the current economic downturn in the Eurozone have increased, new research shows.

Buyers from Greece, Spain and Italy have upped their interest in the last 12 months and so have buyers from Russia, according to the analysis of data from international online property platform Luxuryestate.com.

While overall the most inquires come from would be buyers in the UK at 17%, which is just 1% more than a year ago, the number of searches from Greece have increased by 8% to put the country ninth in the top ten countries where searches for luxury properties originate from. Inquiries have also increased by 6% from Russia, by 5% from Italy and by 4% from Spain.

According to the firm’s president Silvio Pagliani, it suggests that many wealthy people now regard top end property as a safe investment.

‘As expected, there is demand from countries which have a large number of high net worth individuals as residents such as Luxemburg and Switzerland but our analysis also shows increased number of enquiries from countries going through an economic crisis, with statistics suggesting that many wealthy citizens are looking to invest in luxury property and seeking a safe haven for their assets,’ he explained.

The analysts found it interesting that there were no Middle Eastern regions named in the list of countries with the most search activity but after examining the data further they found that  wealthy Middle East buyers are using specialised brokers to purchase properties, many of whom are based in London and this has contributed to such a high level of demand from the UK.

There has also been a change in the countries which have the most number of luxury properties for sale. In countries with more stable economies the number of luxury villas, mansions and castles on the market has remained constant or even decreased. In contrast, countries that are going through a period of continued economic crisis have seen a notable increase in luxury properties on the market in the last year.

The United States has the highest proportion of luxury properties on the market at 15% which has not changed in the last 12 months. Italy is second with 14%, a rise of 8% and the UK in third place with 13%, a fall of 5% compared with 2011. France has 12%, a rise of 4% and these four countries dominate the market in terms of properties for sale.

In fifth place is Germany with 4%, a fall of 4%, followed by Switzerland with 3%, a fall of 3% and Spain with 3% of the market, an increase of 6%. Monaco now has just 2%, down 3% in 12 months and the United Arab Emirates has seen the number of sales rise by 7% to give it a 1% share.