Philippines still top for overseas buyers

Manila overseas interest rising

EXCLUSIVE: Philippines property investments remained the most-searched for the second-month running last month.

The monthly Top of the Props report, published by British-based overseas property website TheMoveChannel.com, saw the country slip to 10th place during August from a remarkable third-place ranking in July.

Philippines property investments remained ahead of those in Thailand which ranked in 13th place, and retained its crown as the most-searched overseas Southeast Asian property destination on the website with a 1.59 percent share of all searches.

Thailand jumped three places to 13th position in the monthly ranking with 1.31 percent of all searches on the website that is aimed at British and European buyers.

Vietnam crept into the Top 40 most-searched destinations in 37th position – a rise of five position compared with the previous month.

Philippines property investments have now appeared in the Top Ten rankings for four consecutive months.

Investor appetite returned for Italian property this summer. The country re-entered the top five most popular destinations on TheMoveChannel.com in August 2016, according to its latest Top of the Props report, climbing four places to steal the coveted third spot.

Elsewhere, appetite for Italian properties returned with searches for real estate in Italy accounting for 3.34 percent of all enquiries last month, up from 2.37 percent in July.

That was enough to see the country leapfrog Portugal, France and the UAE to become the third most sought-after destination for foreign buyers.

Italy was accompanied by Portugal, which also rose one place to re-enter the top five, with 3.07 percent of enquiries.

With Spain retaining its second place and France also rising from eighth to seventh, buyers remained as keen on European property as ever.

Europe accounted for five of August’s Top 10 countries.

Dan Johnson, Director of TheMoveChannel.com, said: “Italy remains one of the most desirable places in the world, but the country’s housing market has enjoyed a boost in appeal this year, thanks to low mortgage rates and favorable tax rules.