Unhappy with Brexit? Is European property an option?
Unhappy with Brexit? Is European property an option?
In case you were one of those who wanted a different outcome to last week’s General Election, we thought this article in Property Investor might catch your eye.
Many investors may be in two minds about European property. Europe is really a collection of different markets.
Zah Azeem, Partner Scrivener Tibbatts says: “Just as we have in Wimbledon all across Europe there are areas of high prices and low growth in areas (although there are often bargains to be had for those who look hard enough for them) whereas, by contrast, emerging localities can still be relatively affordable and have good prospects for capital appreciation.”
On the one hand, all the fundamental attractions of the various internal markets are still very much in evidence, plus, in some cases, owning property in a country may help smooth the path to residency and, if desired, citizenship.
On the other hand, many European markets have some of the highest property prices in the world, which raises the question of whether or not they are justified.
This means that often the question is less whether or not European property is still a good investment but which specific localities in Europe match an investor’s unique goals.
On the whole European governments have a fairly good track record of managing inflation and keeping it in the range of 1% to 2%. This is the sort of level which means that economies are trundling steadily forward, which, frankly, is what you would both expect and hope to see from a mature market like the EU (taken as a whole) and most of the member states individually.
Obviously, there’s going to be some degree of regional variation, but, all the signs say that there is unlikely to be either rampant inflation or rampant deflation. In other words, if you’re looking for a fairly safe, “steady as she goes” type of market, then Europe has plenty of options for you.
The EU is not known for rampant inflation, however, if it does happen, then it is to be assumed that asset prices will also rise, which could give investors the option to remortgage at a lower loan-to-vehicle ratio and hence counterbalance the impact of higher interest rates.
If you would like to discuss this or something related to a valuation please contact zah@scrivenertibbatts.co.uk or call us on 020 8947 7040.