Biggest ever study reveals demand
Real estate business portal Globaledge has published the results of what it claims is the biggest ever study into global demand for overseas property...
The study analysed 1.4 million English-language searches undertaken on Google during September 2008 and employed a team of researchers to categorise the information into regional and country categories.
According to Globaledge Managing Director, Ashley Rigg, the results reveal true comparative demand for overseas property between and within countries. "International property portals frequently publish data on popular searches but the results are always skewed towards the traffic of the portal publishing the information.
"Google search data is the largest and most reliable source of information and we're the first company to use it to look at demand for international property."
According to the study, the most popular overseas property destination among English-speaking internet users is Spain. Searches for Spain and its towns and regions outstripped France, which came second, by a ratio of over two to one.
"Most people in the overseas property industry would put France and Spain on a par, but these results suggest Spanish property is considerably more popular than previously thought" says Rigg. Among the most popular locations in Spain are Tenerife, Mallorca and Costa Blanca. All three were more popular than Paris, the top location in France.
The most surprising finding in the study is arguably the lowly position of Portugal which came bottom of the list of 11 countries and regions with only three per cent of the searches.
Explaining the findings Rigg says "Although Portugal is often considered a top overseas property destination; it's more of a niche market than many people think. It doesn't get the tourist numbers of France, Spain or Italy and the perception among consumers is that it's expensive place to buy property."
The Middle East is fourth in the table with 8.6 per cent of the total search volume. Over 70 per cent of Middle East related searches were for Dubai with Morocco and Egypt a long way behind with 12.7 per cent and 9.4 per cent respectively.
Central & South America is fifth with eight per cent of the total search volume. Panama is the most popular destination with 20 per cent of the Central & South American searches with Mexico following behind with 11.4 per cent.
Bulgaria (7.2 per cent) and Cyprus (7.1 per cent) are sixth and seventh.
Eighth is the Caribbean with 5.6 per cent of the volume. The most popular country in the Caribbean is Jamaica with 12.9 per cent of the Caribbean searches followed by Dominican Republic with 6.6 per cent.
Ninth in the table is Eastern Europe excluding Bulgaria with 5.4 per cent of the total volume. The most popular Eastern European destinations are Croatia (17.6 per cent) and Czech Republic (13.3 per cent).
Turkey is in tenth position with 4.6 per cent ahead of Portugal in last place on three per cent.
Source: Global Edge