Foreign property investors 'on the increase'

Foreign property investors are starting to re-enter the market again, following a period of dominance by lifestyle purchasers, it has been stated.

This view was proffered by Adam Samuel, a director at overseas property portal Nubricks.com, who said that the past two years have seen most buyers looking to locations such as Spain, parts of the US and Cyprus.

Now, however, new destinations like Germany are coming onto the radar as investors see their wealth grow, he noted.

One location which is very much a lifestyle destination is France, Mr Samuel commented, remarking: "Investors are less likely to buy in that area as opposed to lifestyle buyers."

He stated that this explains why the country has recently slipped down the list of the most searched-for countries on the Property Abroad website.

This site, which put the US at the top of the list and Spain second, had France in tenth place for searches in December, down from fourth a month earlier.