News by country
- Spain
- Italy
- Cyprus
- Morocco
- Bulgaria
- London
- Portugal
- France
- Turkey
- Florida

Pages: ◄ 1 ... 2 3 4

September 7, 2007

FRENCH “WORLD’S MOST UNFRIENDLY PEOPLE”

A recent poll carried out by an expatriate website reported that the French are regarded as the world’s least-friendly people. 46 per cent of the more than 6,000 people surveyed by WAYN.com put France at the top of the list of “unfriendly” nations. Several newspapers from the UK took great pleasure in reporting this result. As if that wasn’t enough bad news, the French were also voted the “most boring” and “least generous” people on earth by the website’s members. Taking second place in all three of the aforementioned categories were the Germans.

On the positive side, the WAYN.com poll placed the Italians at the top of the list for the “most cultured” nation and the country with the best cuisine. If Italians are the most cultured, the Americans are the least tasteful. The people of the USA were named “least stylish.” They were also cited for having the worst food on the planet.

Posted on: France

Cyprus property market booming

There has been an influx of interest and attraction from the British buyers to every property in Cyprus, which made the country booming with interest and pride and has made it one of the possible destinations for tourist, relaxation and pleasure. This was revealed just recently by one expert.

According to the managing director of the real estate Buy Abroad John Reilly, the country (Cyprus) is probably the most popular country in the world, as proven by the upsurge of British buyers looking for properties here in this country.

One of the reasons why the country is so popular these days, according to John Reilly, is that the country would be entering the eurozone next year and that English would now be widely-spoken in the entire country. Apart from that, there will also be a Land Registry system for properties, which is in fact, similar to the system being used in the United Kingdom. Furthermore, the country also has a “tax-efficient” environment, with the corporation tax being much lower than that in the UK and that there are no signs of inheritance tax.

Posted on: Cyprus

September 6, 2007

SECOND HOMES ‘RUINING TUSCANY’

Pressure group Legambiente is renewing its call to restrict development in Tuscany, Italy. The lobby group is claiming that the region’s natural beauty is under threat from “rivers of cement” as a result of demand for holiday homes in the area.

A spokesman for the environmental group said, “We need to cherish this landscape.” Concerns over the boom in new-build homes in the area was echoed by Alberto Asor Rosa, a professor at La Sapienza University in Rome. He cites an instance in the hamlet of Monticchiello, a historic settlement near Pienza, where new apartments were built on the pretext of providing housing for local people, only to be advertised by the developer as second homes in the Roman press.

Posted on: Italy

OCEANICO OFFERS NEW FRACTIONAL MORTGAGES

Leading Portuguese property specialist Oceanico Developments has launched a fractional ownership mortgage scheme for UK buyers. The mortgage offers 60 per cent LTV financing to investors in its Stepping Stones fractional ownership scheme, which are available at the Amendoeira and Vila Baia developments. Interest rates on the loans are set at 2.265 per cent above the Euribor three-month rate. Prices for quarter-fractions of properties under the Stepping Stones scheme start at approximately £50,000.

Posted on: Portugal

September 5, 2007

Buying property in Italy

More and more people are considering properties in Italy for the laid back lifestyle. Buying a property in Italy is fairly simply. The first step in buying a property in Italy is to make a legally binding offer. If the seller accepts the offer, the offer forms the basis of the contract or the compromesso. The contract sets out the terms of the transaction which includes the full details of the property, price, date of completion and conditions that must be met before completion.

During the compromesso stage, the seller must pay a deposit. The deposit is normally between 5-10%. Either party then has the right to force the sale. A sale can be forced unless conditions like establishment of clear title have not been met. The title deed or the rogito is drawn up and signed in the presence of a notary.

Posted on: Italy

ISTANBUL: CULTURE CAPITAL 2010

Istanbul, Turkey’s most populous city, has been awarded the third and final nomination for European Capital of Culture 2010 ahead of Kiev, Ukraine’s capital. The move is expected to benefit the city’s fast-growing property market. Announced in Brussels, the nomination prompted elation from both the Turkish delegates present and in Istanbul itself.

“This will become a major agent of change for Turkey,” shares Nuri Colakoglu, a spokesperson for the Istanbul bid. “This shows everybody that this model will solve problems in Turkey. We have put our heart and soul into this bid and we expected to win.”

The chairman of the independent judging panel, Sir Jeremy Isaacs, praised the “pleasingly popular” bid. Isaacs claims that the bid was very well prepared and extremely professional. “Interestingly, the Istanbul application did not begin either with the government of Turkey or with the government of the city of Istanbul, but with groups of public-spirited citizens who took into their own hands the initiatives of leading their city towards this bid,” the chairman adds.

Posted on: Turkey

September 4, 2007

Tee time for the Portuguese property market

The major region of the Algarve still seems a little bit underdeveloped when compared to Spain’s massive and huge roundabout southern coastline. This is assumed despite Algarve being the home of Portugal’s overseas property market and the most developed coastal strip in the country. But still, the Algarve still lives up to its name by offering a competitive market place with a range of resort and activities for the property foreign investors and for the whole family, which makes the Algarve still in the running for Europe’s hottest destination spot.

Oceanico, the Portuguese developer, is still one of the biggest players in this term.

Oceanico is doing well of transforming the Portuguese property development into one that is as competitive as that of Spain’s with its two luxury resorts located in the prime area, in Lagos and Praia da Luz, and with four further four and five-star projects in development in the Western Algarve and the others in the Silver Coast on the Azores.

Posted on: Portugal

BULGARIAN PRICES UP ACROSS THE BOARD

In the picturesque small country of Bulgaria, real estate prices are continuing to rise across the board, according to the latest report from the country’s National Statistical Institute. The average price of a residential property in the Republic of Bulgaria is around £286 per square metre at the end of the first quarter of this year. This figure is up £10 per square metre in just three months.

The capital, Sofia, also the the heart of the Sephardic Jewish culture in the country, continues to offer the highest average prices. Property there now is reported to be worth a record £467 per square metre. It is a rise of over two per cent over the first quarter of 2006.

Posted on: Bulgaria

News by country