Investment watch: american dream not over yet
- USA makes up 3 of top 10 listings in September, its highest share since January 2014
- London home to most popular property investment of Q3 2014
A property fund in London was the most popular listing on TheMoveChannel.com in September 2014 for the second month in a row. The opportunity, which promised a fixed return of 32.47 per cent for an entry cost of £10,000, received almost twice as many enquiries in August as the second most popular listing. In September, that gap closed significantly, as a land plot in Florida seized the runner-up spot. The land, which included planning permission, received just 55 fewer enquiries than the UK property fund.
September also saw investors become more discerning. Compared to August's diverse activity, last month's top 10 listings were spread across just four countries: the UK, which accounted for five listings, the USA, which accounted for three, and Brazil and Thailand, which accounted for one apiece.
Brazil's most popular listing was a land plot advertising 24 to 36 per cent returns in 18 to 24 months for a £25,000 entry fee. This fell from 3rd in August's Investment Watch chart to 10th place. Interest in Thailand's most sought-after opportunity, a Pattaya beach resort (£34,292), held steady, receiving slightly more enquiries in September to remain in seventh place.
Investors were also extremely cautious with budgets: all of the top 10 listings on TheMoveChannel.com in September were priced under £50,000. The most expensive listing was located in the UK: a tourist buy-to-let scheme (£49,950) with properties in six park locations across the country, offering 8 per cent guaranteed returns. Other UK opportunities also relied upon the market's improved health, with a property scheme receiving the ninth highest number of enquiries and the strong student sector drawing the fifth biggest response for university accommodation in Leicester.
The UK is now the driving force of activity on TheMoveChannel.com. The London property scheme was the number one listing in the third quarter of 2014, with a buy-to-let opportunity and a wind investment appearing in the Q3 Top 10. Investors also set sail for the Caribbean during the summer: a building plot in the Bahamas was the second most popular listing on the site in Q3, while the same land (advertised by a different agent) also accounted for the 10th most popular listing. Another plot in Brazil and one in the Cayman Islands completed the top five.
The USA accounted for only one top 10 listing on TheMoveChannel.com in the three months to September 2014: an oil drilling project in Oklahama in seventh place. Indeed, American real estate's share of activity on TheMoveChannel.com declined from 33 per cent in Q1 2014 to 11 per cent in Q3 2014.
Demand for US property is not done for good, though. The oil investment advertised returns of 43.56% per annum on an entry fee of £4,000, enough to earn it third place in September's Investment Watch chart, behind the Florida land. A property investment in Chicago, offering 40 per cent returns in a year, came in eighth place. Together, the USA accounted for three of the top 10 listings in September 2014, its biggest share of the Investment Watch chart since January 2014.
TheMoveChannel.com Director Dan Johnson comments: "In terms of enquiries, America has been the most popular country on TheMoveChannel.com for the past 15 months in a row. Nonetheless, its share of activity has declined significantly this year, as the market's recovery has encouraged the return of domestic house-hunters and lifestyle buyers, replacing the previous wave of overseas inevstment.
"Investors are still interested in US real estate, though, as long as the correct opportunity presents itself. Indeed, the diversity of the country's most popular listings this year is a sign of that continuing appetite for American property: as well as the oil investment, buyers have pounced on a tenanted home in Ohio, student accommodaton and land plots in Florida, properties in Detroit, buy-to-let hotels in North Dakota and now a property scheme in Chicago."
Notes to Editors
About Lead Galaxy and TheMoveChannel.com
Founded in 1999, www.TheMoveChannel.com is the leading independent website for international property, with more than 800,000 listings in over 100 countries around the world, marketed on behalf of agents, developers and private owners.
TheMoveChannel.com is one of more than a dozen international property sites operated under the Lead Galaxy brand. Lead Galaxy provides online marketing solutions to thousands of property companies worldwide, focusing on portal listings, email marketing, qualified leads, paid search and social media advertising.
The business is headquartered at 24 Jack’s Place, Corbet Place, Shoreditch, London, E1 6NN.
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