Germany is also increasingly popular, registering a 49.48% rise in searches, the latest monthly report from Rightmove Overseas shows.
Top 10 climbers included several French regions. The Midi-Pyrénées was up 6.87%, Alpes-Maritimes up 6.53%, the Loire Valley up 5.59% and the Pays de la Loire up 2.5%.
In the country chart, top climbers were Ireland, up four places and Germany, up one place, with price making a big difference according to Robin Wilson, head of Overseas at Rightmove.
‘Bargain hunters are out in force, primarily focused on Spain and Ireland, both markets with well documented supply/demand problems and negative headlines. This interest helped properties in Ireland rise four places up to 11th, in our search chart, an all time record for the Emerald Isle,’ he said.
‘For vendors in these countries it’s not so good news as the headlines are driving expectations that prices haven’t bottomed out. Some advertisers we work with are reporting offers coming in 10% to 20% below asking prices that are already hugely reduced which puts vendors in a really tricky situation, take the money and run, or pull up the drawbridge and just ride it out,’ he explained.
‘For vendors that bought away from the hotspots, particularly in Spain, the story is better as buyers trust in the authenticity of more established communities and smaller towns and prices seem to be holding up better,’ he added.
Wilson said that company analysts have been tipping Germany as a potential hot spot for a while now and the North Eastern tourist hotspot of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern led the charge this month with searches up nearly 50%.
Recent figures from the Association of German Pfandbrief Banks showed prices were up 0.6% year on year, proving that Germany looks like being a great location for buy to let investors. ‘For investors diligently following the golden rules buy for the long term, buy where there’s a strong market, I’d look hard at Germany right now,’ said Wilson.
David Kerns, private client dealing manager at Moneycorp, said it is unsurprising that Germany is rising up the ranks of popular countries for Britons to escape to. ‘The fact that Germany is seen as a crutch for many of the other eurozone countries, with stable housing and jobs markets, is a strong draw for many people in the UK looking for prospects overseas,’ he explained.
‘At the other end of the scale, the problems facing Ireland’s economy are clearly making its property market attractive for people looking for a bargain, with house prices continuing to fall and now at their lowest since 2003,’ he added.
