Tenerife Property

Irish purchasers walking away from Tenerife could mean more bargains for other expats.

A growing number of Irish property investors are walking away from their overseas property investments, following the slump in global property prices over the past two years, reports Overseas Property Mall.

Irish investors were among the most active overseas property buyers in the world during the boom years, but many have fallen into negative equity, particularly those who invested off-plan, following the collapse in property values in places like Spain and the USA.

“Now these projects are nearing completion and the final staged payments are becoming due, property owners are realising they have already paid two or three times what their investment is now worth, without even adding in this final payment”, Overseas Property Mall report.

Irish investors have also been hampered by problems in their own domestic property market with the average price of a home in Ireland have depreciated by around 24% since the peak of the market in 2007, according to Fitch rating agency. Although many international investors, not just the Irish, have had their fingers burnt by the recent collapse in property values, the fact is that many of them bought property at or near the top of the cyclical upturn.

“Following recent stern price corrections, property values in many countries are now much closer to bottoming out. Some markets are already showing tentative signs of improvement, with transactions and prices increasing once more. Now is the time to invest astutely in property, not shun away from it.” So if this trend continues then other ex pats may pick up more bargains as many Irish have heavily invested in Tenerife and the Canary Islands in recent times.