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CEO Nicholas Marr of International real estate website Homesgofast.com gives his angle on the US housing market.

 

I am a unique position running an international property website which attracts thousands of buyers each day. I observe month by month which overseas property market is attracting buyers. It is easy to pick up new trends and also what investors are getting excited about.

 

 

I split overseas buyers into two distinct categories number one are lifestyle buyers. These buyers that are seeking to make changes to their way of life by buying a holiday or vacation home. They may also be searching for retirement or relocation. They typically buy one property at a time and have planned their purchases for quite some time. Category two is the investor who is stimulated by cold hard figures. The real estate they purchase has little emotion attached to it and they may buy on the same day they find the perfect deal. They can buy with surprising frequency and have an eye on their goal which is making money.

 

 

I have equated international real estate markets with the times of the day, this came to me as we turned the phones on to the 9am caller. These were the best calls to receive they tend to be motivated buyers so keen they are waiting for your office to open! They have been up all night doing research and have woken with one thing on their minds buying an overseas property

 

The 9am market for me today is without a doubt Egypt. A housing market presenting low enough prices that investors don’t even need finance. A great place to buy in a credit squeeze, investors are also not exposing themselves to too much risk.

 

 

It surprised me that with low prices and favourable currency exchange rates that the US housing market was not indeed another 9am housing market. In  fact the last few months I would say its been a sleepy 3am real estate market

 

All the figures point towards 9am for US property but the feelings of uncertainty of this region seemed to keep the US market firmly in the dark hours of morning.

 

Today I have seen movements towards the US market from international buyers and their are changes in the types, places and people who now see the US market as great place to buy. Two years ago all the action from international buyers  was taking place in Florida, today’s buyers are finding other US states as attractive places to buy.

 

A great example of how the credit squeeze has changed international investor buying habits in the US is seen with property in Rochester City in Western New York State, USA. Rochester is the 3rd largest city in Western New York after New York City. It is an area that is coming out of recession and where the cheap property market is investor driven. Investors from all over the world have already invested into this low cost investment market and have been reaping the benefits from the high yield rental income it has to offer. This is a city where there are large employers such as Kodak, Xerox, Wegmans Foods and the Optical Science University. Properties with tenants start from only £15,000. Over the last two months this region has been a firm 9am market.

 

 

When you have a dream about retiring to the sun and have planned a lifetime to buy a property abroad a credit crunch will not put you off. I have seen this with Florida lifestyle buyers increasingly this market is heading towards 9am, today it is at 11am. Buyers are very motivated and very interested in what the sunshine state has to offer. The strange thing is once they find out what they can buy with their money they turn into 9am buyers. Some of these buyers are getting double for their money.

 

I had a couple from the UK ring with their budget of £200,000 they had planned a nice modern 2 bed home or condo. Now they can easily achieve a 4 bed house with pool and lots of incentives thrown in. What is more they are in charge they are calling the shots and can walk away from a house if they don’t get the price they want.

 

These are all early indications for me that the US market is turning the corner after all who can resist a bargain. Buy low sell high is the cry from the stock market floors and  this is now the  case for US properties.

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