Research from consultant Datamonitor suggests a growing trend of UK first time buyers seeking cheaper investment property abroad in the hope of making sufficient returns to afford a deposit on a UK home.
The trend is driven by increasing differences in price levels between affordable property abroad and, for first time buyers (FTBs), unaffordable homes in the UK. Speculation on rapid capital appreciation overseas, if successful, “can lead to significant profits, which can then be used towards the deposit for buying a property in the UK,” Datamonitor says. FTBs accounted for just 29% of UK mortgage loans in 2003, compared to 47% in 1999, according to the consultant’s figures. Estimates are some 2 million Britons already own second homes abroad, and the average age of such owners is fal...
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