Turkey voted Frommers favourite for 2012

by Charlotte Ashton Turkey

Where do travellers want to visit next year? According to the leading guidebook publisher and travel website Frommers, 51% of readers quizzed about their top destinations to visit in 2012 voted in favour of Turkey.

Amongst a list of 10 destinations compiled by Frommers, Turkey was announced as the reader’s top destination to visit in 2012, despite being up against strong contenders such as Paris, Italy and Hawaii.

Described as a Frommers ‘favourite’ since the publication of Turkey on $5 a Day in 1971, the nation’s economic powerhouse, Istanbul, has been marked as one of the world’s most cosmopolitan cities as well as one ‘packed with a rich  Byzantine history, divine architecture, fantastic street food, and one-of-a-kind shopping.’

Ray Withers, Director of Turkish property investment experts Property Frontiers comments,

“With Turkey becoming one of the biggest success stories of late having emerged as a sound economic marketplace underpinned by an already thriving tourism industry, positive acclaim from a leading and trusted source such as Frommers will certainly help propel the nation even further, much to the delight of foreign property investors.”

Further positive news arrives from the latest REIDIN.com index which has revealed that Turkey has experienced an increase in the value of residential property with average house prices rising by 0.73% in September 2011 compared to the previous month, while rental values jumped by 0.90% across the same period.

Meanwhile, the Turkish construction sector has grown by 13.2% in the second quarter of 2011 according to data released by the Association of Real Estate Investment Companies (GYODER) with property sales reaching 107,308 in the country in the second quarter of 2011, an increase of 17.8% over the first quarter.

With Turkey ranked in seventh place in the list of most-visited global destinations, according to the UN World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), the Turkish government has revealed that foreigners invested in excess of $1.3 billion in the Turkish property market last year, thanks to heightened confidence in the market.

With this in mind, the projected demand of 2.9 million houses by 2015 has led investors into the lucrative Buy-to-Let world where there is high demand for good quality rented housing in Istanbul and surrounding areas with Property Frontiers recognising the growing potential of Istanbul as a lucrative property investment hub.

Located in the western suburb of Beylikduzu, one of the fastest growing areas presenting not only one of the best opportunities for property investment but cheaper property price tags than the rest of Europe, the spacious 1 and 2 bedroom luxurious modern apartments of Kensington Residence, affording immediate and guaranteed rental income at 7% for 2 years, will present tremendously good value for money with an investment of only £17,325 required for a 1 bedroom and £30,450 for a 2 bedroom apartment based on the investor utilising 70% LTV finance.

On the other hand, those looking to invest in a key asset class in the proven market of Istanbul can look no further than the booming student accommodation sector.

With University Dormitories and Government Funded Dormitories accounting for only 12.7% of rising student housing demand, a shortfall of housing stock for around 254,000 students has emerged and the new student accommodation development HAN Florya, located in the booming western suburb of Küçükçekmece, will provide an optimum opportunity to capitalise on the growing demand for student housing offering a secure high yielding low level investment starting at £14,965 with no buying, ongoing maintenance or management costs while investors can enjoy a guaranteed NET yield of 10% per annum.

For more information on investing in the Frommers favourite, please contact the experts Property Frontiers today on +44 (0) 1865 202 700 or visit www.propertyfrontiers.com.

London’s East End is hot pick for investment as borough ranked Top 10 Destination of 2012

by Charlotte Ashton United Kingdom

 

Investors considering buying in the Capital should take a second look at the Royal Borough of Greenwich in the East End of London, ranked by Frommers, the worldwide travel guide, as one of the Top 10 Destinations of 2012.
 
Sitting alongside exotic global destinations such as Ghana and Beirut, Greenwich, often considered to be the gateway to the East End of London, is set to enjoy its time in the limelight even further next year due to the numerous Summer Olympic events happening right on its doorstep.
 
Ray Withers, Director of investment experts, Property Frontiers, which is marketing a new hotel investment in the Royal Docks, comments:
 
“We are delighted to see that the East End of London and indeed Greenwich receive internal accolade for its touristic appeals. The area as a whole has developed considerably in the last two decades with the establishment of the Canary Wharf financial centre, revitalisation of the Docklands, expansion of London City Airport and the Olympic Site having a very positive impact. It is certainly one area which holds a great deal of interest both to us and our clients.”
 
An up and coming tourist destination within London, if you get under the skin of Greenwich it is easy to see why this ‘little green patch’ of London has been given such an  exciting accolade. Greenwich was the main naval centre of England in the 18th and 19th centuries and is steeped in history, to the point that it is now an UNESCO heritage site. The architecture is awash with remarkable baroque facades by architects such as Wren, Hawksmoor, and Vanburgh as well as fine cuisine, interesting shops and a wonderful covered market which sets this area apart from many others in London.
 
Home to the largest leisure arena in Europe, the O2, Greenwich will also be the place to alight the new Emirates Air Line cable car which is being installed across the River Thames, expected to take thousands of tourists to and from the Olympic Park at Stratford.
 
With already high levels of tourism to the area and Frommers ear-marking the borough as a top place to visit in 2012, demand for accommodation is also set to rise, creating a lucrative opportunity for savvy property investors.
 
As Withers explains,
 
“If you want to make a property investment which has a winning formula not just for today but for the future then you need to select an area that is just about to hit the ‘big time’ and where there is long term growth forecast. Rising tourism and a shortage of accommodation makes the East End of London the perfect investment environment.”
 
Over 5,000 hotels rooms have been opened or re-opened in the east of London already with thousands more expected in the next few years. Global brands, such as Holiday Inn Express, have identified the potential of this area and are investing heavily. Following the opening of Holiday Inn Express at Stratford, the new Royal Albert Dock Hotel, operated under the Holiday Inn Express brand will over have 204 en-suite rooms just minutes from the Royal Albert Dock DLR station.
 
Opposite London City Airport, the Royal Albert Dock Hotel affords a premium location with easy access and modern on-site amenities including meeting rooms, restaurant and bar. Rooms across the three floors are available to purchase at 22% below official RICS valuations at £125,000 with 50% non-status finance available upon completion.
 
Owners can expect up to 10.5% NET yield but year 5 and only £5,000 deposit is required to invest. For more information contact Property Frontiers on +44 (0) 1865 202700 or visit www.propertyfrontiers.com.
 

East London set for hotel room boom

by Charlotte Ashton United Kingdom

London, known as a ‘world in one city’, remains one of the most sought-after and popular tourism destinations on earth attracting over 26 million visitors each year from across the globe. And with growth at 5% per annum (International Passenger Survey Q1 2010) and over 500,000 extra visitors expected in 2012 due to the Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games, the outlook for London’s tourism industry and confidence in London’s hotel market, especially in the East of the city, is sky high.

PricewaterhouseCoopers’ (PwC) report on the Capital’s hotel market recently highlighted that London was the best performing city in Europe last year. In July 2011, hotel occupancy levels reached 92% according to PwC while demand is expected to outstrip supply next year particularly in Q3 2012 thanks to a combination of tourist attracting events including the Olympic Games and the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations. In fact, as demand soars PwC estimates that London’s average room rate in Q3 2012 could reach £183 resulting in a growth increase of 36% for average room rates.

Ray Withers, Director of property investment expert’s Property Frontiers comments,

“The hotel market in London this year has been forecasted at near double digit growth while 2012 is expected to be a record breaking year for the hotel market. The London Plan, a guidance strategy for London formulated by the Mayor has incorporated an objective to provide an additional 50,000 hotel rooms between 2006 and 2026 while between 2010 and this year alone, over 5,000 new rooms have opened or re-opened in response to growing demand for accommodation.”

Indeed as demand sky rockets numerous hotel brands including Holiday Inn and Express have been popping up around the city, particularly in east London, fuelled not only by the new Olympic Park but also but the creation of new Special Enterprise Zones including the Royal Albert Dock, launch of Westfield shopping centre in Stratford and expansion of ExCel exhibition centre and London City Airport.

With tourists spending in excess of £9.3 billion a year in the city and a predicted increase in visitor numbers, new hotels in the east of London are a welcome addition with a very rare opportunity having emerged for investors to grab a piece of the action.

Withers explains,

“Affording an enhanced hotel experience, we at Property Frontiers are allowing investors from all over the world a rare opportunity to purchase an asset class seldom accessible to individuals. Holiday Inn Express, which is one of the seven brands of the world´s largest hotel company, Intercontinental Hotels Group Plc, located at the prime location of the Royal Albert Dock affords a first-class reputation and with three people checking into a Holiday Inn Express every second, investors will have the opportunity to gain affordable entry into the highly sought after, lucrative London market. Also, many investors have been previously put off investing in Hotel rooms due to the lack of a viable exit strategy but with this particular development there is a buyback plan at the end of the investment term.”

Priced at 22% below independent RICS valuations and with VAT paid by the developer, saving investors a considerable £25,000, Holiday Inn Express, Royal Albert Dock welcomes buyers from all over the world with 50% non-status finance upon completion available.

Set over four floors and consisting of two buildings with 204 en suite rooms, investors can purchase a hotel room on a 199 year leasehold for £125,000 and along with an established Holiday Inn Express brand, investors can enjoy a projected 10.5% net income by year 5 as well as a defined exit strategy.

For more information on investing in this lucrative market please contact the experts Property Frontiers today on +44 (0) 1865 202 700 or visit www.propertyfrontiers.com.

 

A key asset class in a proven market: Istanbul student accommodation welcomed by investors

by Charlotte Ashton Turkey

Over the past year, two property sectors have upheld an exceptionally strong position seeing considerable growth in student accommodation and the Turkish property market. With this in mind, purpose built student accommodation in Istanbul is currently in high demand providing the perfect opportunity for savvy investors to own a key asset class in a proven market.

Ray Withers Director of Turkish investment expert’s Property Frontiers comments,

“Combining the proven key market fundamentals of Istanbul with an asset class deemed by Knight Frank to be a “critical component of a balanced investment portfolio”, the two sectors combined together make absolute sense”.

With the ongoing success of Turkey’s economy and predictions that the nation will be the 9th largest economy in the world by 2050, Turkey affords 154 universities, four of which have secured a place in the prestigious Times Higher Education World University Rankings (2011-12). While Turkey has as a total student population of 3.78 million, Istanbul represents the educational hub of the nation boasting 36 universities and a student population of 298,000.

Currently, Turkish universities accommodate students from around 147 countries, including the UK, seeing a rise of 59% over the past 5 years and with the international increase in enrolment combined with an 8% annual student growth rate, enormous pressure has been placed on existing student accommodation stock.

Withers explains,

“Student accommodation traditionally supplied by University Dormitories and Government Funded Dormitories account for only 12.7% of demand and has resulted in a shortfall for around 254,000 students. Our new student accommodation development in Istanbul, HAN Florya, provides an optimum opportunity to capitalise on the growing demand for student housing.”

With a huge undersupply of student accommodation mismatched with growing demand, students are transforming the rental market in Turkey offering excellent returns potential for investors.

Located in the booming western suburb of Küçükçekmece, home to some 600,000 people, HAN Florya occupies a prime location close by to three universities in Istanbul with a combined population of 19,000 students and less than 2 minutes’ walk from the Metro bus station enabling easy and quick access to the city centre.

With only 38 student rooms available on a leasehold basis, HAN Florya has been explicitly designed to cater for the market requirement of separate male and female accommodation. Comprising two blocks (one for male, the other for female residents) this attractive student residence offers a secure high yielding low level investment starting at £14,965 with no buying, ongoing maintenance or management costs while investors can enjoy a guaranteed NET yield of 10% per annum. 

For more information on investing in the key asset class of HAN Florya in Istanbul please contact the experts Property Frontiers today on +44 (0) 1865 202 700 or visit www.propertyfrontiers.com.
 

$1.3 billion invested into Turkey – Ranked 7th most visited global destination by the UN

by Charlotte Ashton Turkey

Turkey has become one of the biggest success stories of late having emerged as a sound economic marketplace; but let us not forget what it was that that helped propel the country into the dominant powerhouse it is today. Thanks to a highly successful tourism industry, Turkey has sky rocketed to the top much to the delight foreign property investors.

At present, Turkey ranks seventh in the most-visited global destinations list, according to the UN World Tourism Organization (UNWTO). Since 2000, Turkish tourism operators were able to record the first noteworthy increase in tourist numbers, resulting in an impressive 10.4 million visitors that year. From then on, Turkey has experienced consistent growth in its inbound tourists leading the country to reach an incredible 28.63 million visitors in 2010. Today, the tourism sector continues to grow and is a primary contributor to the nation’s national income and success on the global stage.

Indeed, increased tourist numbers over the years certainly contributed to the 11% year on year economic growth seen in Q1 2011 with Turkey’s ‘city of desire’ Istanbul seeing a 30.1% increase in tourist revenue this year helping Istanbul become the 34th richest city by GDP in the world according to data from PriceWaterhouseCoopers.

Recording better growth than any of the largest emerging markets in the first quarter of this year, Turkey’s $735 billion economy grew 8.8% in the second quarter, developing faster than India and more than four times the Eurozone’s expansion. And, with the help of ever growing tourist numbers and credit growth prompting rising consumer demand, Turkey has been experiencing the best year for takeovers since 2008 with the value of transactions involving Turkish targets rising by 59% annually to $8.8 billion.

Meanwhile, figures from the Turkish government have shown that foreigners invested in excess of $1.3 billion in the Turkish property market last year. At present, there is a shortage of homes across the country, especially in urban areas such as Istanbul, which is currently on the receiving end of massive internal migration. With this in mind, the projected demand of 2.9 million houses by 2015 has led investors into the lucrative Buy-to-Let world where there is high demand for good quality rented housing in Istanbul and surrounding areas.

Ray Withers, Director of Turkish property investment experts Property Frontiers comments,

“Thanks to huge waves of tourists to the country over the years with some 1.4 million Arab tourists visiting the country between January to August this year alone, it seems everyone wants a piece of Turkey. Certainly, for investors, the Turkish government’s plan to make the tourist industry reach 15% of its GDP by the year 2020 will be a big attraction.

“Currently, the Turkish property market is underpinned by a strong economy with a growing tourism sector, and savvy Buy-to-Let investors understand that this can be converted into solid rental yields. As a result, we at Property Frontiers have recognised the growing potential of Istanbul as a lucrative property investment hub with the western suburb of Beylikduzu, one of the fastest growing areas presenting not only one of the best opportunities for property investment but cheaper property price tags than the rest of Europe.”

Available £17,250 below comparable projects in the area, the spacious 1 and 2 bedroom luxurious modern apartments of Kensington Residence located in the heart of Beylikduzu will present tremendously good value for money with an investment of only £17,325 required for a 1 bedroom and £30,450 for a 2 bedroom apartment based on the investor utilising 70% LTV finance.

The finance is available for EU and North American citizens while investors can enjoy an immediate and guaranteed rental income at 7% for 2 years, the perfect opportunity to capitalise on the positive growth and ever growing popularity of the nation.

For more information on investing in Kensington Residence please contact the experts Property Frontiers today on +44 (0) 1865 202 700 or visit www.propertyfrontiers.com.
 

Celebrating National Ethical Investment Week, alternative investment specialist launches exclusive bamboo webinars

by Charlotte Ashton Turkey

UKSIF, the sustainable investment and finance association will launch its National Ethical Investment Week (NEIW) from the 16th – 22nd October 2011, in an attempt to inform investors of their green and ethical options when it comes to their finance and investment decisions.

The UK campaign launched in 2008 aims to highlight the positive impacts of green and ethical investments on the environment and society, pointing out that it is possible to pick a socially and environmentally responsible investment and still make excellent returns.

The NEIW campaign will bring together financial advisers, monetary organisations, NGOs, charities and faith groups, all working in partnership to encourage the shift towards a more environmentally sustainable and socially responsible society.

With this in mind, potential investors looking to make a difference not only to their portfolios and bank accounts but to the greater good of the planet can look no further than the best alternative in the sustainable investments sector to date, bamboo.

With the bamboo market currently valued at $5bn a year growing to a predicted $20bn by 2015, bamboo presents the perfect timber alternative that is playing a vital role in helping alleviate not just environmental degradation but the plight of poverty in developing countries such as Nicaragua.

Currently, the world’s forests are under huge pressure as demand for timber grows. Traditional hardwoods take around 25 to 50 years to grow compared to just 50 days for bamboo and as a result, bamboo produces more than 20 times the timber from the same area; thus creating a sustainable and environmentally friendly source of supply.

On a social level, harvesting the fastest growing plant in the world, bamboo, is a labour intensive process and therefore creates many jobs in areas where employment is scarce. In addition, building with bamboo is not only inexpensive but also has the added benefit of providing earthquake proof housing with many architects arguing that bamboo cultivation and construction is the answer to protecting the world’s poor in disaster prone areas.

Meanwhile, for investors bamboo is a high value product with booming demand. The returns from investment far outstrip those of traditional assets in recent years, helping investors pull in attractive annual returns.

Ray Withers, Director of alternative investment experts Property Frontiers explains,

“Bamboo is such a valuable commodity and our asset backed bamboo bond, the world’s first, is one that not only guarantees strong annual returns (highest returning bond priced at $50,000 returns over 500% over a 15 year period) but makes an astounding contribution to our planet and its people. Indeed, while bamboo has vast environmental benefits and qualities that put it ahead of traditional wood materials such as excellent durability and twice the compression strength of concrete it also has over 3,500 commercial uses including food, flooring, furniture, paper, medicines clothes and bikes, you can even get bamboo ipad covers!

Withers continues,

“On a more personal level, what really astounds me is the social impact that bamboo can have on a developing country. On my recent visit to the plantations in Nicaragua I was deeply moved by what I saw. There has been a huge influx of workers and the plantations have become a real lifeline to the people who were once living below the poverty line. Thanks to the work of EcoPlanet, the plantation owners, their average daily wage has increased by 300% and a new shelter is being built to teach many of the workers how to read and write.”

For ethically minded investors, Property Frontiers is providing the perfect opportunity to gain an insight into the world of bamboo investments at their exclusive bamboo investment webinars on Tuesday 11th October 2011 at 1pm BST and Thursday 13th October at 7pm BST.

For attendance on Tuesday please register your details at https://www3.gotomeeting.com/register/293761886 and for attendance at Thursday’s webinar please register here https://www3.gotomeeting.com/register/125450774. For more information on ethical investing please contact Property Frontiers on +44 (0) 1865 202 700 or visit www.propertyfrontiers.com.
 

New Istanbul Podcast – Everything you need to know about investing in the “city of desire” in 60 seconds

by Charlotte Ashton Turkey

One of the hottest global real estate markets with over 12,000 properties already sold to foreign buyers, Istanbul, the economic powerhouse of Turkey has certainly become a “city of desire” for savvy investors.

 

And now, for those considering buying in this lucrative market, the Turkish property investment experts, Property Frontiers, has produced a new exclusive podcast – Everything you need to know about investing in Istanbul in 60 seconds.

 

Available to listen to here http://istanbul-investment.propertyfrontiers.com/podcast completely free of charge, Head of Business Development for Property Frontiers, Stuart Johnson, who has just returned from his recent visit to Istanbul, explains what makes the city such an attractive destination for property investment, what types of properties are in greatest demand, which areas to buy in, how much a typical property costs and what returns investors can expect.

 

Always keen to share their expert knowledge and first-hand experience with clients, Ray Withers, Director of Property Frontiers, comments,

 

“We believe here at Property Frontiers that knowledge is key to making a successful property investment and that is why we are dedicated to thorough research, due diligence and giving our clients the very latest market insight via a variety of channels.

 

“Podcasts have become part of everyday life and for busy investors this snapshot of Istanbul, Europe’s premier buy-to-let city, will provide everything they need to know about the market’s fundamentals in 60 seconds.”

 

For more information about investing in Istanbul and the range of investment properties available from £55,000, contact Property Frontiers today on +44 (0) 1865 202 700 or visit www.propertyfrontiers.com.

Beylikduzu – recommended by Global Property Guide experts as a key place to buy in Istanbul

by Charlotte Ashton Turkey

A key city in one of the world’s fastest growing economies, Istanbul, Turkey’s economic powerhouse, has been enjoying soaring tourism along with vast internal migration and a youth orientated demography which has propelled the city forward and boosted its property market.

The Global Property Guide, an authoritative source of information on buying overseas property has produced an independent guide to buying property in Istanbul highlighting the city’s strong political situation, strategic location as a gateway between the East and West and historical and geographical beauty as factors that have attributed to Istanbul’s surge in visitors and indeed buy-to-let property investors.

Labelled Eurasia’s rising Tiger by The Wall Street Journal, Turkey’s economy grew 11% year on year in Q1 2011 seeing around $100 billion in foreign investment pour into the nation since Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan took the stand in 2003 while Turkey’s ‘city of desire’ Istanbul saw a 30.1% increase in tourist revenue in 2011 helping the nation become the 34th richest city by GDP in the world according to data from PriceWaterhouseCoopers.

As tourism continues to accelerate faster than other European countries, the Global Property Guide also highlights that Istanbul has now become the third most visited city in Europe after Paris and London with the rise in popularity landing the city in the spotlight of many property investors from around the world including the UK, USA and Russia, attracted to the projected demand of 2.9 million houses by 2015, low unemployment and undervaluation of the Turkish Lira making property in Istanbul relatively inexpensive compared to other European cities.

Meanwhile, the Daily Telegraph identified Istanbul as one of the 20 best places to buy a second home abroad in July this year and with positive recommendations such as this, the rental market in the city continues to be successful. Yields between 4% and 8% can be achieved while the demand for accommodation continually increases seeing a 25% rise in the last 5 years according to CB Richard Ellis.

Indeed, the growing middle classes and a flourishing international community have made Istanbul a prime buy-to-let market with outlaying suburbs such as Beylikduzu growing in popularity according to The Global Property Guide.

Ray Withers, Director of Turkish property investment experts Property Frontiers comments,

“We at Property Frontiers have recognised the growing potential of Istanbul as a lucrative property investment hub. The western suburb of Beylikduzu is one of the fastest growing areas which present not only one of the best opportunities for investment but cheaper property price tags than the rest of Europe. Its location is perfect, located close to shopping centres and leisure facilities, the area affords three universities and plenty of green spaces as well as excellent transport options including trains and the Metro bus which runs through the suburb making it easily accessible from the city centre.

“Due to its popularity Beylikduzu is expanding rapidly with the population expected to increase fivefold to 1 million residents by 2016. At present there is an acute shortage of rental properties and it is exactly this lack of supply and growing demand which investors can capitalize on by investing in our new key ready development, Kensington Residence.”

Available £17,250 below comparable projects in the area, the spacious 1 and 2 bedroom luxurious modern apartments of Kensington Residence located in the heart of Beylikduzu will present tremendously good value for money with an investment of only £17,325 required for a 1 bedroom and £30,450 for a 2 bedroom apartment based on the investor utilising 70% LTV finance.

The finance is available for EU and North American citizens while investors can enjoy an immediate and guaranteed rental income at 7% for 2 years, the perfect opportunity to capitalise on the positive growth and ever growing popularity of the nation.

For more information about Kensington Residence please contact the experts Property Frontiers today on +44 (0) 1865 202 700 or visit www.propertyfrontiers.com and to obtain your free guide to buying in Istanbul from Global Property Guide please visit http://downloads.globalpropertyguide.com/Istanbul.aspx
 

Happy Birthday! UK Buy-to-Let turns 15 this month

by Charlotte Ashton United Kingdom

The UK buy-to-let sector will be celebrating its fifteenth anniversary on the 24th September 2011 having been launched by the Association of Residential Letting Agents back in 1996 at the RAC Club, Pall Mall.

Praised by The Paragon Group of Companies for making a positive contribution to the UK housing market, buy-to-let was developed in response to the surge in demand for rented property following the recession of the early nineties. After its successful launch, buy-to-let quickly developed a strong and well-defined market for itself leading it to become a popular ‘investment product’ for first time property investors that still reigns true till this day.

Nigel Terrington, Chief Executive of Paragon Group explains,

"Buy-to-let has galvanised the rental market over the past 15 years, whilst providing an attractive asset class for property investors. Buy-to-let finance was the catalyst for the revitalisation of the modern private rented sector."

Indeed, the new and much needed capital helped regenerate a crumbling market by improving not only standards of accommodation but by creating a far wider choice for tenants. In fact, it has been suggested that the private rented sector (PRS) which had tumbled to 7% of all housing by the early nineties would have perished without the buy-to-let initiative.

Since the buy to let early days, 2.1 million B2L loans have been advanced while the value of buy-to-let balances has risen from £5.4 billion in 1999 to £154.5 billion in 2011. Additionally, at least 3.9 million properties (2010) are in the PRS providing homes for 1 in 6 households.

Meanwhile, the UK’s biggest house builder, Barratt has seen a 25% increase in sales to investors in H1 2011 compared to the same period in 2010 while a report by the Council of Mortgage Lenders and Paragon Mortgages highlighted increased activity in the buy to let remortgage sector between Q1 and Q2 2011.

In addition to the increased activity in the sector, rents rose by 1.2% in August this year, according to the latest Buy-to-let Index from LSL Property Services plc with average rents across England and Wales standing at approximately £713 per month, compared to only £705 in July providing opportunities for buy-to-let investors to line their pockets with increased rental incomes.

Ray Withers, Director of UK buy-to-let property investment experts, Property Frontiers, comments,

“Nowadays more and more people are choosing to live in rented accommodation which in turn has been pushing up rental demand. This has of course pushed up confidence among buy-to-let investors and with rental prices rising, around 78% of investors are now looking to buy additional investment properties next year to take advantage of rising rental values.”

With their finger on the buy-to-let pulse, Property Frontiers has launched the perfect buy-to-let investment opportunity located just north of Liverpool city centre offering a 10% net rental assured for 3 years equivalent to a rental income of £6,900 per apartment.

Candia Tower Apartments is a prestigious development comprised of 128 quality 3 bedroom apartments priced at £69,000.  Set within a private gated community, this buy-to-let development includes an on-site gymnasium, management office, on-site security, CCTV and dedicated parking space with each unit, all purpose-built and decorated to a high-quality standard.

For more information on this not to be missed but to let opportunity please contact Property Frontiers on +44 (0) 1865 202700 or visit www.propertyfrontiers.com.
 

Over 17 million tourists tempted by Turkey to date with 30 million expected by end of 2011

by Georgina Turkey

Turkey’s tourism sector has exhibited a remarkable performance this year with an 11% increase in the number of tourists visiting the Eurasian nation in the first seven months of 2011 with 17,624,969 tourists visiting between January and July this year according to data from the Turkish Culture and Tourism Ministry and up to 30 million expected in total by year end.

Impressively, the month of July alone saw a 5.49% increase in tourists visiting the country totalling 4,597,475 tourists, of which Germany took centre stage with 602,511 travellers (13.11%) while 586,905 tourists (12.17%) arrived from Russia and 435,143 (9.46%) from England.

 

With 25.41% of tourists entering through Istanbul, the city’s Sabiha Gökçen Airport has been named the world’s fastest growing airport by Airports Council International (ACI) having experienced a 29% increase in international tourists in the first seven months of 2010, hardly surprising given the booming nature of Turkey’s airline carriers recently.

 

Turkey’s national flag carrier, Turkish Airlines, one of the fastest growing airlines in the world carried 18.1 million passengers in the first seven months of this year, 10.6% more than in the same period last year, helping propel the carrier towards being named the best airline in Europe at the World Airline Awards 2011 back in July in recognition of the quality of its in-cabin service and the range of locations it flies to. The airline also won the World´s Best Premium Economy Class Airline Seat and Best Airline Southern Europe awards.

 

Furthermore, Turkish Airlines, which has increased its number of destinations both within and outside of Turkey including more flights to Washington D.C. and a new route to Turin, Italy is preparing to commence its first ever flight to Argentina by the end of the year.

 

Undoubtedly becoming one of the most popular places to visit, Turkey has witnessed the positive knock on effect on the local real estate market seeing the average price of a house increase by 6.2% in the first quarter of 2011 compared to the same period in 2010. And, combined with the nation’s fast growing and stable economy outstripping BRIC powerhouses like China, Turkey has quickly emerged as an investment goldmine for potential property investors.

 

Ray Withers, Director of Turkish property investment experts, Property Frontiers, comments,

 

“The Turkish economy is thriving. Strong economic growth and increasing demand for property generated from growing populations combined with the removal of visa requirements for many countries have created vast opportunities for investors.  Economic stability is without a doubt one the biggest reasons behind good sales figures in the Turkish property market with investment focussed within rapidly growing cities like Istanbul, in particular areas like Beylikduzu, one of the fastest growing regions in the country that affords cheaper property price tags than the rest of Europe.”

 

As a perfect opportunity to capitalise on the positive growth and ever growing popularity of the nation, Property Frontiers has a stunning new key ready development affording 1 and 2 bedroom luxurious modern apartments located in the heart of Beylikduzu.

 

Available £20,000 below comparable projects in the area, the spacious apartments of Kensington Residence will present tremendously good value for money with an investment of only £16,500 required for a 1 bedroom and £29,000 for a 2 bedroom apartment.

 

In addition 70% LTV finance is available while investors can enjoy an immediate and guaranteed rental income at 7% for 2 years.

 

For more information about investing in this European investment thoroughbred which is set to see a 5% price increase as of 9th September 2011, please contact the experts Property Frontiers today on +44 (0) 1865 202 700 or visit www.propertyfrontiers.com.