Buy to Let Landlords are more exposed to risk than other UK property owners and the Association Residential Letting Agents (ARLA) predicts that 2009 will be a tough year for investor landlords. ARLA is predicting that there will be an increase in landlords defaulting on their monthly mortgage payments over the coming months, and an increased rate of repossessions as a result.   The Association of...

The Ocean 9 Casino and Hotel Resort recently broke ground in the Subic Bay Freeport area along Waterfront Drive. This new resort and property development in the Philippines is expected to cost approximately US $120 million and will rise 15 stories above the bay.   Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) Administrator Armand Arreza believes that this will be the most beautiful hotel in the area: “This...

Money magazine and CNN have come up with their annual list of the best places to live in the United States, and this year Plymouth, Minnesota comes out on top. The Minneapolis-St. Paul suburb of 50,000 has just about everything, from great schools, affordable housing and lots to do. Fort Collins, Colorado comes in second with Naperville, Illinois taking third.   Located at the foot of the Rocky Mountains...

While property prices in the UK and across the globe have dropped for much of 2008, agricultural land in the UK has been a good investment. According to research from Savills, agricultural land has increased in value for all of 2008 by 21.5 percent.   One of the main reasons for the increase in land prices is the price of wheat, which correlates well to the price of land. 2009 is expected to be a good...

Indochina Land recently held a ground-breaking ceremony for its new office and luxury housing development in Hanoi. The US $150 million project covers some 16,600 square meters in Cau Giay District and is scheduled for completion in 2010. This will be one of the premier properties in Vietnam when completed.   Indochina Plaza Hanoi (IPH) will have grade A office space and two high rise residential towers...

The latest research report from Philippines property company Raimon Land indicates that the average price for a condominium in Phuket is now Bt101,203 per square meter. That is essentially double the price per square meter in 2005, a staggering increase in value in the past several years.   The report attributed the continued boom in Phuket luxury property to new hotels and properties that continue to...

The number of existing homes sold in the United States dropped considerably in November as prices also dropped. The National Association of Realtors indicated in its most recent report that home sales drop to an annualized rate of 4.49 million units in November, down from 4.98 million homes in October. That is well below the predicted rate of 4.93 million units that industry analysts were looking...

27/12/08-China cuts interest rates for the fifth time since mid-September, but the cuts were smaller than many analysts had expected. The People’s Bank of China cut the one-year lending rate to 5.31 percent and the deposit rate to 2.25 percent, which was just a 27 basis point drop. The last cut in November was 1.08 percent, much larger than this time.   Some analysts thought the move would be greater,...

One of the newest luxury destinations on the very popular Caribbean island of St. Lucia is The Landings, located on 19 acres on Rodney Bay. Just a few miles north of Castries, the capital of the island nation, this new resort has been open for several months and is now opening a new phase for sale. All properties are freehold and owners can use them all they want or lease them out. There is a combination...

The demand for property in Qatar is expected to remain strong, according to a recently released report by DTX, an international real estate advisory firm. The office and residential markets have both experienced strong growth in recent years. That growth is expected to slow, but still remain strong.   Residential rents in Doha have increased an average of 30 percent per year, according to the report....