Hearts are ruling heads when it comes to buying abroad

Research out today reveals that Britons are following their hearts rather than their heads when buying property abroad and opting for familiar holiday destinations such as Spain (15%) and France (12%) rather than countries offering true investment opportunities - such as Morocco, Hungary, Cape Verde, Montenegro and Poland.

With 5.5 million British people living abroad and 200,000 Britons travelling abroad every year in search of buying a property overseas, Foreign Currency Direct, provider of best buy currency for homes abroad, asked a GB representative sample of 2,315 people which country they thought was the best place to buy abroad.

The results reveal that the British public is playing it safe, according to Peter S Ellis, C.E.O. of Foreign Currency Direct; “There are so many more lucrative investment opportunities that could be made if the British public invested in properties in lesser unknown and up-and-coming destinations rather than in the traditional Spain and France.”

Of the 61.4 million holidays being taken each year by Brits, 25.8 million of these are to France and Spain. With such large numbers heading to these destinations it’s not surprising that they have come out on top with people buying abroad.

Brits looking to buy abroad are not fully considering emerging markets for their foreign property investments, which is where they have opportunities to purchase at the lowest possible prices to maximize their return on investment.

Foreign Currency Direct is calling for prospective buyers to be brave in their decision to move abroad and consider one of their suggestions. As the eyes and ears of the property market, they have seen a marked changed in the attitude of British people, who appear to be more and more disgruntled and have seen what they call ‘The Great British Bail Out’.