Distressed property demand 'on the rise'

Investors looking to make a money transfer and purchase a property overseas may be interested to hear about the latest results of a survey looking at worldwide demand for housing.

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors' (Rics') Global Distressed Property Monitor revealed interest in such buildings increased dramatically in the second quarter of 2011.

More than 80 per cent of the countries questioned revealed a higher demand than in the last quarter.

Meanwhile, the net balance figure for Q3 expected supply was outstripped in Q2 in more than half of the nations that responded to the survey.

A distressed property is described as one that is under foreclosure order is advertised for sale by its mortgagee.

Commenting on the survey, Rics chief economist Simon Rubinsohn claimed that the findings were "encouraging" and reflected "a measure of confidence in the outlook for the real estate sector".

He said: "However, it needs to be borne in mind that the results are very country specific with generally negative numbers coming from those markets where the economic pain is most intense."

The countries which saw the most dramatic rise in demand were Japan and Hungary, with balance scores moving from +6 to +68 and +3 to +64 respectively.

Elsewhere, Poland, Russia and Italy reported a swing from negative to positive territory in this territory.

However, the survey also revealed that distressed property continues to outstrip demand in the UK, Italy and Republic of Ireland.

The Rics report is produced quarterly and is used to expose trends in 25 commercial property markets across the globe.

Elsewhere, developer Taylor Wimpey de Espana recently announced it plans to match the Spanish government's four per cent reduction in IVA (the country's equivalent of VAT), on all new properties delivered before the end of 2011.

Posted by Jennifer Wilkinson

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