Words: Ashley Rigg
Published: 21st September 2009
Top 25 overseas property destinations
A number of property portals publish league tables of overseas property destinations. The issue with all of the figures is the limited data set. The overseas property portal market is fragmented and it’s difficult to tell whether the figures reflect the particular bias of the portal or are genuine reflection of the whole market.
One of the advantages of operating the
Global Leads system is we have access to an unprecedented volume of lead data from a cross-section of overseas property portals and affiliate partners. The data below is drawn from more than 10,000 enquiries in July and August 2009 on internationally-focused English-language property portals.
In my opinion, it’s the biggest data set in the market and if I wasn’t contractually restricted from naming the portals, I’d be able to support this argument with concrete examples of why this is the case.
UK bias
Although we cannot name the portals, you can see from the table below that the data is predominantly but not exclusively drawn from enquiries made by buyers based in the UK. (We are currently expanding our network of portals in areas such as Northern Europe and Russia so this will change in the near future)
|
Origin of lead
|
% of Total
|
|
UK
|
54.3%
|
|
Middle East & North Africa
|
15.3%
|
|
Asia
|
7.0%
|
|
North America
|
6.1%
|
|
Northern Europe
|
6.0%
|
|
Southern Europe
|
4.3%
|
|
Ireland
|
2.0%
|
|
Eastern Europe
|
1.9%
|
|
Australasia
|
1.2%
|
|
Central & South America
|
0.9%
|
|
Russia
|
0.6%
|
|
Other
|
0.4%
|
Spain beats France to top spot
Despite all the negative media coverage Spain has received over the past 12 months, properties in Spain received more enquiries than any other country, 17.9% of the total; although France (14.5%) and USA (12.5%) were a close second and third respectively.
The top five countries, Spain, France, USA, UK and Portugal are all mature western markets and perhaps reflect a “flight to safety” in an uncertain economic environment. This theory is supported by the recent study by Conti Financial Services. The presence of the US in third position likely reflects a surge in interest following extensive media coverage of significant price reductions in places like Florida.
Top 25 overseas property destinations table
|
Position
|
Country
|
%
|
|
1
|
Spain
|
17.9%
|
|
2
|
France
|
14.5%
|
|
3
|
USA
|
12.5%
|
|
4
|
UK
|
8.4%
|
|
5
|
Portugal
|
5.9%
|
|
6
|
UAE
|
5.0%
|
|
7
|
Turkey
|
4.2%
|
|
8
|
Italy
|
4.0%
|
|
9
|
Cyprus
|
2.3%
|
|
10
|
Bulgaria
|
2.3%
|
|
11
|
Germany
|
2.0%
|
|
12
|
Egypt
|
1.7%
|
|
13
|
Greece
|
1.6%
|
|
14
|
Jamaica
|
1.3%
|
|
15
|
Malaysia
|
1.0%
|
|
16
|
Austria
|
1.0%
|
|
17
|
Brazil
|
0.9%
|
|
18
|
Thailand
|
0.9%
|
|
19
|
Australia
|
0.9%
|
|
20
|
Morocco
|
0.7%
|
|
21
|
India
|
0.7%
|
|
22
|
Hungary
|
0.6%
|
|
23
|
New Zealand
|
0.6%
|
|
24
|
Northern Cyprus
|
0.5%
|
|
25
|
Sweden
|
0.4%
|
Enquiries by price point
Analysing the data set by price point provides interesting reading. 37.8% of the market are making enquires on properties which cost less than €100,000 and 76.6% on properties less than $250,000. Unfortunately, the data tells us little about buyers’ actual budgets because financing varies markedly by country and by applicant. However, the figures do illustrate approximately where you need to be pricing property if you are looking to sell to the mass market.
|
Price bracket
|
Percentage of total
|
|
Under €50,000
|
15.6%
|
|
€50,000 - €99,999
|
22.2%
|
|
€100,000-€149,999
|
28.6%
|
|
€150000 - €199999
|
10.2%
|
|
€200,000 - €249,000
|
7.1%
|
|
€250,000 - €499,999
|
11.0%
|
|
$500,000+
|
5.2%
|
About Global Leads
Global Leads is a marketplace where agents and developers can bid for and buy qualified customer sales leads from our call centre, affiliated sites and property portals.
You control the quality of each lead
Global Leads puts you in control. You choose the type of buyer, location requirements and budget constraints of the potential buyer:
- Choose between 1st home, holiday home and investment buyers
- Be specific about the town and region of interest from a list of over 50 countries
- Choose the exact price range to match the properties you sell
How does it work?
Once you have registered for Global Leads, you have two options.
- You can set up a lead profile with your exact requirements to find out the current winning bid price. If you wish you can put in a higher bid. Once you have made a deposit, you will receive all relevant leads within 48 hours of the customer making an enquiry. As the winning bidder you continue to receive leads matching your profile until you are outbid or you run out of budget.
- You can browse more than 2500 unsold leads by country, region, town, lead type, price point and age of lead. You can then buy the leads that interest you.
Are the leads exclusive?
There are three types of lead, call centre, affiliate partner and property portal leads.
- A call centre lead has been phoned by our call centre to check their exact requirements and to see whether they are serious buyers. These leads are totally exclusive to you and they tend to command a higher price.
- An affiliate partner lead tends to be an enquiry that has been made on a property blog or forum. An example would be somebody who has asked a question about the best places to buy in Marbella in Spain. These leads are exclusive.
- A property portal lead is buyer that has made an enquiry to another agent about a specific property on a portal. After 48 hours, this lead is sent into the Global Leads system. If you buy or win the lead, it shared between you and the agent who received the original enquiry. These leads are less valuable and tend to sell for less than the call centre and affiliate partner leads.
How much to leads cost in areas where I sell property?
Lead prices vary not just according to supply and demand but also according to age. Prices decrease over time. Our system is dynamic and lead prices change every minute.
To find out how much leads cost in the regions where you sell please
join Global Leads. You can research prices and lead volumes without making a payment.
Join here.
User Comments
Excellent report to compare marketing and distenations for buyers.
laila maghraby,
RTDA
Nice Blog.
Although I realise that almost 50% of these statistics are not from the UK, the most popular countries are I thought, Spain, France and USA.
http://www.pureintl.com
FourED,
Pure International