Other Posts by Paul Owen

• 5 top tips: Buy overseas safely

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Good time to buy?

By Paul Owen

Reader, I'm not trying to sell you anything.

As a non-profit organisation set up to improve standards of professionalism in our market, the AIPP does not sell property. Our role as far as the consumer is concerned is to provide genuinely independent advice on buying overseas safely. We'll also make clear the benefits of buying with an AIPP Member.

Now you know our position, back to today's question: is it a good time to buy property overseas?

Any agent or developer will of course answer yes. Our answer cannot be so simple. In fact, we will never advise that you should buy property overseas. Our advice (and our raison d'etre) is that if you do wish to buy overseas then do it properly to protect yourself (or at the very least reduce your exposure to risks).

Whether or not it's a good time depends, of course, on your own position. However, let's put a simple fact on the table. The property market has, in just about every country, seen anything from a correction to a downturn to a full-blown slump - whatever they've experienced, there are no signs yet that prices in any of the affected countries have started to increase.

At some stage, prices will rise but none of us will know when that is until it has come and gone.

Common sense dictates that it's better to buy when prices are going down than when they're going up - buyers can drive much better deals at such times. Many stock market investors will be happy if they're within 20% of calling the bottom of the market. When you bear in mind that property is (or should be) a medium to long-term investment (if indeed it's an investment at all), then buying within 20% of the bottom of the market should mean you get a pretty good deal. Particularly if market conditions have allowed you to bag a bargain.  

Of course, many people are not buying an overseas property as an investment. It's been one of the less edifying aspects of our market in recent years that every buyer has put themselves in the category of an investor (and many agents sold themselves as ‘investment advisers' which was complete nonsense). I'll cover this aspect of our market another day.

What many people have been looking for (and still are) is a great holiday home or a home in which to spend a relaxed, happy retirement overseas. If you're planning either of these (or if you are one of the proper investors looking for a return on your money and nothing else), a market of falling prices is one that should interest you.

Whether you buy now or later, of course, depends on your circumstances. All we advise is: do it properly and protect your purchase in the same way as you do when buying at home.

In my next blog, I'll look at our 5 top tips for buying overseas safely.

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