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World economy in trouble - a good time to buy

6th October 2008 | back to article listings BACK    print this article PRINT

With the headlines crying out that the world's economy is in trouble day after day, it may seem a strange time for some to be thinking of investing in overseas property.

Better, some might think, to hide that cash under the mattress, or at least in a bank where the savings are sufficiently guaranteed should the worst happen. Why, some will ask, should people spend their funds on overseas property when the credit crunch is a worldwide phenomenon?

Apart from the fact that some countries are feeling the crunch more than others due to a range of factors, the reason it is a good time to buy is, paradoxically, precisely because so many markets are having a hard time at the moment, according to Amanda Lamb, presenter of TV show A Place in the Sun.

She said: "Bizarrely enough, now is a fantastic time to buy because there are such great bargains to be had. As long as you have got the funds in place it's a brilliant time."

Ms Lamb added: "To be honest everywhere is a good investment at the moment because the prices are just dropping; as long as you are prepared to ride out this storm, because it will get better."

Choice is another advantage those with the means to buy have now, she noted, stating that "there is just so much to choose from" all around the world.

Of course, riding out the storm is what many investors seek to do anyway, investing for the long term in the expectation that there may come crises along the way, but over an extended period of time the periods of growth and good returns will outnumber the tough periods. Those looking to buy in a slump, of course, may regard it as a good time to pick up bargains in markets that will in time start rising again.

Ms Lamb mentioned the US as a "very interesting option" and in states such as Florida buyers may indeed have their attention drawn by the potential bargains around.

In Canada, this idea has already caught on, the Financial Post has reported, with an increasing number of buyers heading south to make the most of the offerings available. On example of this is that in the south of Florida it is possible to find beachside property at a cost of $250,000 (£142,000). Kimberly Kirschner, the owner of Kirschner Realty, told the news provider this is a dramatic drop in price from the recent past. She said: "The same property would have been about $500,000 just two or three years ago."

So for those with the means to invest overseas, it may just be that now is the time to do so. Now that the US government has managed to get its rescue package for the banking sector passed, the credit crunch could start to ease, allowing the property market in Florida - as well as those of other countries around the world - to start recovering before too long.

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