Prices of homes in Florida are at their lowest for 13 years. Figures out this week from the Orlando Regional Realtor Association show that Orlando’s median home price in January 2011 sank to $94,950 – its lowest level since November 1997.

Cheap cash deals are driving more than half the sales. The Orlando Sentinel reports: “Usually a drop in prices means a boost in sales, but January’s total was down sharply from December, which is the historical pattern. Only 1,950 sales were recorded for the month by the local Realtors group, down 21 percent the previous month and the slowest month in a year.  Read more... (593 words, 2 images, estimated 2:22 mins reading time)

Even though Turkey’s surging economy is the current driving force behind the latest wave of interest in Istanbul, this is a city that is making a name for itself off its own back too, and drawing the attention of the European property investor, one expert has claimed.

A recent PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) survey has unveiled as the most popular location in Europe for real estate investors, and there are probably two crucial reasons for this: tourists and big business.
And, next month (March) the city will get another significant boost when it launches its first 40-day shopping festival. The event will dominate the entire city and is likely to see hotel room occupancy soar once again.  Read more... (493 words, 2 images, estimated 1:58 mins reading time)

With the schedule of events announced for the 2012 Games, Olympic fever is hotting up in the host city of London. But it’s not only the competing athletes going for gold; the race is on to invest in London’s booming hotel market.

As TRI Hospitality Consulting reported, London’s hotel market is going from “strength to strength”, currently outperforming most other European cities including failed 2012 Olympic Games bid city Paris, Madrid, Rome, Berlin and Amsterdam.  Read more... (509 words, 1 image, estimated 2:02 mins reading time)

Turkey remains a great place for overseas property investors to buy, particularly in the capital city of Istanbul.

In January alone, according to the Turkish Culture and Tourism Ministry, Istanbul saw a 28.5 pc increase in the number of tourists visiting the city – meaning many foreign property investors are keenly watching the local property market.

The was a large mix in the tourists visiting – Germans topped the list followed by Russia, Italy, Iran, the UK and the US. With new international airport already in the pipeline, it is unsurprising that many real estate investors are contemplating Turkey for their property portfolios.  Read more... (154 words, estimated 37 secs reading time)

Overseas property investors who have real estate in Southern Italy will be pleased to hear that low-cost airline Ryanair are about to reintroduce their London-Calabria flights.

From March 2011 Ryanair will be operating flights between London Stansted and Lamezia Terme in Calabria three times a week – on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. From April, they will also be operating a Sunday flight.

The Lamezia Terme airport has already announced that they are improving the airport to include extra parking spaces and a new low cost airline terminal as well as a new exhibition space and airport hotel. With the reintroduction of Ryanair flights from London, there is expected to be a large increase in the number of tourists flying into the airport each year.  Read more... (179 words, 1 image, estimated 43 secs reading time)

Although December showed a 30pc decrease in sales month on month, property investors are confident that the property market in Singapore is still strong.

2010 saw a record number of private residential sales at just over the 16,000 mark – up from the previous peack of 14,800 in 2007. However December saw just 583 sales compared to 1,332 in November.

Analysts are quick to point out that December is traditionally a slow month in the Singapore property market and 2010 was no exception. Many people are on holiday during December and parents are looking at their children’s PSLE results so less properties are advertised.  Read more... (138 words, estimated 33 secs reading time)

Albania is hotly tipped to be the next big thing in overseas real estate investment.

Albania: Ancient Apollonia

Since the end of the Balkan war and independence in the early 90′s the Balkans have started to open up to tourism. Thus far, it has mostly been back packers and intrepid travellers who have made their way through this fabulous country.

Albania has had a bad reputation internationally and has been plagued by social and political problems. Currently the country is undergoing a massive internal change, huge amounts of investment have been poured into the infrastructure, the government is working with overseas advisors to implement change and there is a definite desire to be on a par with their neighbours such as Greece, Croatia and Italy.  Read more... (1352 words, 1 image, estimated 5:24 mins reading time)