The latest report from Rightmove Overseas shows that overall searches are up by 1.2% this month. The province of Valencia in Spain is the top climber with a massive rise of 166.78% in searches.
Other top climbers include the islands of Ibiza in Spain, up 24.73%, Sardinia in Italy, up 18.32%, and Portugal, up 14.36%. Portugal has climbed to fourth place, ahead of Australia.
Cyprus has seen a rise in searches of 5.2% and Greece is up 6.03%. But non European favourites have experienced less interest. Australia is down 17.91%, New Zealand down 21.76%, the United States down 0.33%, and Canada down 12.99%.
Shameem Golamy, head of overseas sales at Rightmove said that the sunny weather in the UK has brought out the European property hunters, as the traditional emigration destinations such as Australia and New Zealand fall away in searches.
‘Buyers looking for reduced priced properties in traditional lifestyle and holiday hotspots have been notable during March, with the Spanish province of Valencia seeing a massive surge in searches. The current climate means that if you are a buyer, you are spoilt for choice amongst the hundreds of properties with huge price reductions available, all over the Mediterranean,’ he explained.
Searches for properties in countries that have been downgraded on the international financial markets have also seen an increase, with both Portugal and Greece rising sharply in searches. This could be from savvy investors looking to cash in on the economic uncertainty in those territories, or simply those looking to research property prices before flying away to enjoy the holiday season,’ he added.
‘On the flip side, it seems that the early year interest in emigration destinations seems to have waned as temperatures rise in the UK and cold hard reality of moving half way across the world sinks in.’
According to David Kerns, dealing manager at Moneycorp the difficulties seen in certain eurozone economies such as Spain and Portugal have not dampened the interest from people in the UK looking to escape overseas.
‘It seems to have had the opposite effect, in fact, with savvy investors here making the most of the vulnerable property markets in Europe. Although the euro remains stable, interest in houses in Portugal has risen by 14% and in Spain by 4% due to the bargains to be had with property in those countries,’ he added.
