Spain Tops Overseas Property Searches

In spite of difficult economic conditions and significant falls in the value of Sterling, searches for international property on Primelocation.com increased in January 2009 by 72% month-on-month and broke through the one million barrier in February, according to data released yesterday.

Spanish property was the most popular search on the portal, attracting just under 300,000 searches, some 60,000 ahead of last month’s most popular country, France (238,729). The USA held on to its third position with 153,912.

The portal believes that the countries that have performed the best y-o-y are those located outside the Eurozone, with the USA for example rising by 130% in popularity during that time. Searches for Turkish and Australian property also performed well with a rises in searches of 25% and 18% y-o-y.

“After a slow down in searches for international property in the second half of 2008, we have had a very strong start to 2009,” said the portal’s international business development manager Ann Wright. “Searches for international properties on Primelocation.com were up 72% on December and February searches and leads to agents look to be up over 100% on January. Some of the growth is in areas outside the Eurozone where sterling has suffered less than it has against the Euro. It may also be that people who held off investing in 2008 are now hoping to take advantage of the falling prices in some areas.”

Top 10 searches in February 2009 through Primelocation.com

1. Spain


2. France


3. USA


4. Italy


5. Portugal


6. UAE


7. Turkey


8. Australia


9. Cyprus


10. Bulgaria

Monthly search destinations – Top 10 January 2009

1. France


2. Spain


3. USA


4. Italy


5. Portugal


6. Australia


7. UAE


8. Turkey


9. Cyprus


10. Bulgaria