Fly to let investors who bought in Bangkok a few years ago have watched the value of their properties double or, in some cases, even triple or quadruple says property specialist David Stanley Redfern.
Tourism in Thailand has been growing 20 percent year on year and as a result the biggest gains are to be made are on resort properties. Especially profitable are homes on islands like Koh Samui and Koh Phangan. There are still investment opportunities in the mature market of Phuket.
David Stanley Redfern claims that investors who bought properties in Koh Samui and Phuket two years ago have sold recently for a 100 percent profit.
With its white sandy beaches, lush forest landscapes and tropical climate, Phuket has also attracted the rich and famous. Prices now reflect this, with villas costing from around £500,000.
Koh Samui is very similar to Phuket and has the same sort of beaches, landscapes and climate. When Phuket grew beyond most people’s price range, Koh Samui became an affordable alternative. There are now more five-star holiday resorts and hotels there than on any other South East Asian island. Villas can still be purchased from £100,000.
Koh Samui is perhaps the safest of the Thai islands on which to make a property investment, says David Stanley Redfern, because it has proved its worth with consistently strong capital growth since it started to emerge.
The success of Phuket may act as a guide to how the island’s property prices will continue to grow in the coming years.
Koh Phangan, the least mature of the emerging Thai islands, has the same excellent beaches and climate as Koh Samui and Phuket, and is similarly attractive to tourists. Interest from overseas property investors is increasing.
• Over the past couple of years, Sweden has emerged as one of the best-value property markets in Europe. With prices starting at £28,000 for a property in the southern Swedish countryside, the country is now attracting more and more British fly to let investors seeking a quality property in a market that is well established yet still relatively untapped, in a country that offers the safest environment in Europe.
According to Crane International Properties, an Anglo-Swedish company which specialises in selling Swedish summer homes to UK buyers, Sweden has many plus points, among them beautiful waterfront locations with clear, unpolluted water, plots that range from a quarter of an acre upwards (a fact that those used to the ever more crowded conditions prevailing in much of the UK may welcome), a world-class health service and excellent transport facilities.
The cost of living is similar to the UK’s. Mortgages, says Crane International, can be obtained from Sweden’s second largest bank. Cheap flights are available. As a bonus, English is spoken widely.
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