Economists are concerned about the global property market, especially in Europe where house prices are high and the threat of inflation looms. Yet buy to let investors are not phased, and many of them are finding it rather easy to benefit in this market place.
Several key factors "should" cause buy to let opportunities to be difficult. This includes the continuous rise in house prices and the overall property slump found in many areas. A weakening economy is not any better. Nevertheless, property investors grew buy to let mortgages by 20% in 2007.
According to a survey done by Global Property Market, several key European areas are prime locations for buy to lets. Of them, the top named European countries included:
• The Netherlands with an excellent rating
• Romania with an excellent rating
• Hungary with an excellent rating
• Turkey with a good rating
• Belgium with a good rating
The buy to let market throughout the European community is strong because of the level of deposits required to purchase a property and the overall price of properties. Most first time home buyers find it near impossible to break into this market and secure their first home. Rather, they need to rent than buy.
Even more important is that if house prices begin to fall significantly, it could have a knock on affect and create more opportunities for buy to let investors. A lot of big investors are waiting for a further drop in the housing market so they too can buy up more property to add to their portfolio.
