Currency helps holiday home owners

Research by the investments group Close Treasury and reported in the FT reveals that British owners of overseas holiday homes have reason to celebrate as the recent increase in the price of overseas properties coupled with a weak pound are good for their investments.

Close Treasury believes that the average price of an Italian property rose by 30% from 2005 until the second quarter of this year.

However, as the value of the Euro jumped by 27 per cent against sterling in the period, the upswing for a British owner was even greater. Analysts from Close Treasury’s foreign exchange group estimate that in sterling terms, the value of an Italian property jumped by almost 66%. The value in sterling of a Spanish property, meanwhile is up 59% over the same period.

While property prices fell both in France and Portugal from June 2008 until June of this year, the rise in the euro against sterling ensured that British investors still saw a gain on their investment in the period.

Mark Taylor, head of foreign exchange with Close Treasury told the FT: ‘Even though overseas property prices tend to have fallen in the last year, in many cases the fall in the value of Sterling will have offset this, and many people may still have seen the value of their homes increase in sterling terms.’