Last month we asked in an open poll on the site "If you had 100,000 GBP (or the equivalent) to invest in property right now, which continent would you invest in?"
The results are in and are as follows:
| Continent |
Percentage |
Europe | 28% |
Asia | 18% |
South America | 18% |
Africa | 16% |
North America | 12% |
| Australia |
7% |
| Antarctica |
1% |
Obviously a poll of this nature is a little broad of course, but public sentiment can unveil some interesting patterns as to which way global investment and interest is going.
At first glance, some of the results here are a little surprising, but do reflect the somewhat "sheeple" mentality of investment in general if you think about it. Personally, I would have expected North America to be at the top of the poll over Europe primarily because the US were arguably the first to develop a housing crisis and logic would suggest that they would be the first out.
Having said that, the reason it is as low as it is in the results is more likely to be down to confidence. The US are well aware that they have a foreclosure crisis far bigger than anyone has sat down and calculated, yet meaning that as more property hits foreclosure and is dumped on the market, inventory levels will rise and the old "supply and demand" equation kicks in (basically the market has far more houses than liquid buyers).
Personally, I would have expected Europe to be a little lower than it is on the list, mainly because of the continual harassment it has received by the press lately and the ongoing cuts and austerity measures that have been applied (admittedly our client and traffic base are mostly Europe-based, this would of course go a long way to explain some of these figures).
Asia, I suspect, is riding high due to positive economic figures in general being released, and the property market continuing to perform despite repeated shouts of "bubble" and even government measures being enforced to slow growth down.
Conversely though, Australia is way down the list compared to Asia, and yet there are shouts of "bubble" emanating there too, so what's that about? The Australian property market is a very different beast to Asia. As a whole it is far more developed and yet at the same time very self-contained, making it very controllable from a governmental point of view. The Australian Dollar has been gaining a great deal of strength over the past decade or so also; those who were able to invest and have done so have seen larger-than-normal performance of their assets because of this.
The reason, however, I suspect Australia is as low as it is though is largely down to the fact the Australians are very well aware of the aforementioned currency and property situation. As a result, their continual awareness of it and publishing of that fact has slowed foreign investment.
South America is undoubtedly propped up by Brazil. Brazil's economy is rising faster than bikini wax sales in the run up to carnival week, due to its growing export market. (Mexico and Chile are also both being touted as the next "BRIC" candidates.)
As for Antarctica, well no surprises there I guess, although I would be interested to hear about the hidden igloo investment opportunities that somebody thinks are out there!
This month's poll is short and to the point. After what seems like an eon of coverage about house prices and where they might or might not be going, this month's poll is as follows: