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Buyers stay confident - 15 August 2008

New research from property companies Savills and Holiday-Rentals.co.uk has shown that British buyers of overseas property remain confident in their purchases, with two-thirds saying that a rise in the cost of getting to their property overseas would not put them off going.

The survey, conducted last month, questioned over 1,500 overseas property owners about their motivations and intentions for buying, as well as their feelings on the rising costs of fuel and the property slump in the UK. Amongst other things, it revealed that the lower cost of property overseas than in the UK had been a key driver in their decision to head for the overseas market.

The revelation that a rise in travel costs due to a ‘green tax’ or fuel duty increasing would not deter the majority of buyers is somewhat surprising, and should reassure the airline who are predicting a serious downturn in sales and passenger numbers in the coming months.

Jacqui Daly, Director Savills Research comments, "Whilst the issue of climate change is an important concern for the majority of second home owners it is not seen as a barrier to travel. In fact there has been a notable increase in the number of British second home owners buying property further a-field, with locations such as Dubai, the Far East and the Caribbean increasingly emerging as destinations of choice."

Another discovery from the survey is that leisure is still the most important reason for buying an overseas property, with 67 per cent of respondents citing the ideal holiday location as their top priority in choosing their holiday home. Investors of different types made up the rest of the sample, with so-called ‘fly to let’ buyer accounting for 17 per cent of buyers in the survey.

Greg Grant, Managing Director, Holiday-Rentals.co.uk comments, "Investing in overseas property, both for leisure and investment purposes remains a key aspiration for many Britons. Taking regular holidays is also a top consumer spending priority, despite environmental concerns and the credit crunch. As a result, we expect to see continued growth in the holiday home rentals market, both in terms of supply and demand. As more owners become aware that there is strong demand for holiday lets and that it is relatively simple to self-manage rentals, privately owned holiday accommodation will become an increasingly important sector of the travel market."

Savills estimates that there are around 425,000 UK-owned overseas properties, worth some £58 billion.

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