US Sees Increased Interest From British Property Buyers

British buyers searching online for a second home overseas are increasingly looking at the United States but Spain is still the most popular destination.

Virtually all parts of the US have seen an increase in searches according to the latest monthly report from Rightmove Overseas.

Overall 1.6% of regions have seen an increase in searches since September, 48.34% have seen a decrease in searches and 0.06% of destinations saw no change.

Spain has retained the top spot for searches, the United Arab Emirates returned to the top 20 and Portugal climbed to fourth place at the expense of Italy which dropped to fifth.

The data also shows that searches in both Australia and New Zealand decreased and four French regions fell in popularity as did Germany.

The USA was the big winner in October with low priced investment opportunities like the pre-tenanted apartments in Florida attracting a new generation of investors from the UK. New York in particular saw a large increase in searches which can be attributed to increased advertiser activity, but will also no doubt be fuelled by the well publicised Hurricane Sandy and the US election,ђ said Shameem Golamy, Head of Rightmove Overseas.

Interestingly the UAE has made it back into the top 20 for the first time since Feb 2010 and we are waiting to see if it can possibly return to its former glory,ђ he explained.

Spain however still remains the firm favourite for UK buyers, with over a million searches in October, accounting for nearly 30% of the entire traffic to Rightmove Overseas. Portugal also benefited from a rise in interest,ђ he added.

Charles Purdy, managing director at Smart Currency Exchange, said that it was not a  surprise to him that Spain and the US continue to be as popular. Our clients are delighted at the property bargains they are finding. Even with the US dollar being significantly stronger than a few years ago the collapse in USA property prices still makes the sterling property cost significantly less than they were then,ђ he pointed out.

In Spain we have seen the euro weaken, so in sterling terms the property prices are even better still. Uncertainty in future exchange rates are still high as we see difficulties in how the Euro zone is sorting out its debt problems and the USA faces its fiscal cliff of increased taxes and reduced government expenditure,ђ he added.