The idea of soaking up the sun on a Greek island every year always seems incredibly appealing when you're shivering through an Australian winter.
Pair that with the eurozone's tumbling property prices and the dream starts to seem possible. Perhaps you've already scanned some websites to get a feel for what you could buy in Greece, Italy, France or Spain. And now you're picturing a wardrobe filled with days-of-the-week bikinis ready for a lifestyle of perpetual summer.
Jim Vrondas, chief currency and payments strategist, Asia Pacific, OzForex, says in the past 12 months people have done far more than fantasise about picking a cheap property overseas. While Brits tend to favour Spain and Portugal, Australians have seized the chance to pick up bargains in the US, France and Italy.
''Those property markets have been hit quite heavily in recent years and if you add to that the surge in the Aussie dollar - the combination of those two factors and the fact that property prices here are getting so expensive - that has driven some of that demand,'' Vrondas says.
Australian home values posted their strongest quarterly gain since 2010, in the three months to August, rising 4 per cent, according to the latest RP Data-Rismark report. While the US registered its highest rate of annual growth in house prices since 2006 in the first quarter of 2013, some European markets are still struggling.
In June, the Knight Frank Global House Price Index showed that out of 55 global property markets Greece recorded the largest annual fall in mainstream prices for the third consecutive quarter, declining by 11.8 per cent. As the table shows Spain, Portugal, Italy and France also saw falls.
Lisa and Sam Chiodo have done more than dream about buying European property. The Australian couple and their two children moved to northern Italy in March after they snapped up a ''liveable'' three-bedroom house for €8000 ($11,500). Lisa says they found their mountain home on an Italian website while they were still in Australia, by tapping ''cheapest house in Piedmont'' into a search engine. Although the Chiodos are old hands at the renovation game - this is their 12th project and their second in Italy - they found buying in Italy isn't straightforward.
''In Italy the majority of houses are sold privately and often with only a sign saying: ''Vendesi'' to let you know the property is for sale,'' Lisa says. ''Often it is through word of mouth and most locals know which houses are for sale.'' As she shares on her blog, Renovating Italy, it helps to have a local who can negotiate for you.
Perhaps, though, your European heritage dictates that you're drawn to the opportunities in beleaguered Greece instead of A Year in Provence- or Under the Tuscan Sun-style fantasy.
Europe's falling prices
Twelve-month change between Q1 2012 and Q1, 2013:
Greece -11.8% Hungary -9% The Netherlands -8.3% Spain -7.9% Portugal -6.9% Italy -4.1% France -1.4%
Australian Property Forum is an economics and finance forum dedicated to discussion of Australian and global real estate markets and macroeconomics, including house prices, housing affordability, and the likelihood of a property crash. Is there an Australian housing bubble? Will house prices crash, boom or stagnate? Is the Australian property market a pyramid scheme or Ponzi scheme? Can house prices really rise forever? These are the questions we address on Australian Property Forum, the premier real estate site for property bears, bulls, investors, and speculators. Members may also discuss matters related to finance, modern monetary theory (MMT), debt deflation, cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin Ethereum and Ripple, property investing, landlords, tenants, debt consolidation, reverse home equity loans, the housing shortage, negative gearing, capital gains tax, land tax and macro prudential regulation.
Forum Rules:
The main forum may be used to discuss property, politics, economics and finance, precious metals, crypto currency, debt management, generational divides, climate change, sustainability, alternative energy, environmental topics, human rights or social justice issues, and other topics on a case by case basis. Topics unsuitable for the main forum may be discussed in the lounge. You agree you won't use this forum to post material that is illegal, private, defamatory, pornographic, excessively abusive or profane, threatening, or invasive of another forum member's privacy. Don't post NSFW content. Racist or ethnic slurs and homophobic comments aren't tolerated. Accusing forum members of serious crimes is not permitted. Accusations, attacks, abuse or threats, litigious or otherwise, directed against the forum or forum administrators aren't tolerated and will result in immediate suspension of your account for a number of days depending on the severity of the attack. No spamming or advertising in the main forum. Spamming includes repeating the same message over and over again within a short period of time. Don't post ALL CAPS thread titles. The Advertising and Promotion Subforum may be used to promote your Australian property related business or service. Active members of the forum who contribute regularly to main forum discussions may also include a link to their product or service in their signature block. Members are limited to one actively posting account each. A secondary account may be used solely for the purpose of maintaining a blog as long as that account no longer posts in threads. Any member who believes another member has violated these rules may report the offending post using the report button.
Australian Property Forum complies with ASIC Regulatory Guide 162 regarding Internet Discussion Sites. Australian Property Forum is not a provider of financial advice. Australian Property Forum does not in any way endorse the views and opinions of its members, nor does it vouch for for the accuracy or authenticity of their posts. It is not permitted for any Australian Property Forum member to post in the role of a licensed financial advisor or to post as the representative of a financial advisor. It is not permitted for Australian Property Forum members to ask for or offer specific buy, sell or hold recommendations on particular stocks, as a response to a request of this nature may be considered the provision of financial advice.
Views expressed on this forum are not representative of the forum owners. The forum owners are not liable or responsible for comments posted. Information posted does not constitute financial or legal advice. The forum owners accept no liability for information posted, nor for consequences of actions taken on the basis of that information. By visiting or using this forum, members and guests agree to be bound by the Zetaboards Terms of Use.
This site may contain copyright material (i.e. attributed snippets from online news reports), the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. Such content is posted to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democratic, scientific, and social justice issues. This constitutes 'fair use' of such copyright material as provided for in section 107 of US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed for research and educational purposes only. If you wish to use this material for purposes that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. Such material is credited to the true owner or licensee. We will remove from the forum any such material upon the request of the owners of the copyright of said material, as we claim no credit for such material.
Privacy Policy: Australian Property Forum uses third party advertising companies to serve ads when you visit our site. These third party advertising companies may collect and use information about your visits to Australian Property Forum as well as other web sites in order to provide advertisements about goods and services of interest to you. If you would like more information about this practice and to know your choices about not having this information used by these companies, click here: Google Advertising Privacy FAQ
Australian Property Forum is hosted by Zetaboards. Please refer also to the Zetaboards Privacy Policy
