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The city of Bordeaux in France has been somewhat renowned for its byproducts of viticulture since the eighth Century; it also happens to be one of the most reasonable locations in which to buy property in France. The reason for this, I hasten to add, is not because of the crime rate – according to 2006 statistics, it boasts the lowest in France, barring the occasional blip. However, having hung around some of the portside establishments on numerous occasions, I admit I find this surprising. There were plenty of two-headed space cowboys lounging at the Star Wars bars in the vicinity as I recall. Regardless, Bordeaux is an endearing European city seated at the head of Aquitaine – a region of south west France renowned for its vineyards, les chateaux and exquisite gastronomy. It has been popular with Britons for decades and has witnessed increasing foreign interest since the city embarked on a rejuvenation programme some years ago. There are those that draw comparisons with the redevelopment of Manchester in the UK: I can assure you that the weather’s far better but the football team is not! Most property seekers focusing on Bordeaux will find inventory for all seasons at relatively low prices as compared to other major European cities. It is still possible to buy impressive townhouses and apartments in the historic central areas of Bordeaux for less than dhs1.6 million supported by mortgages at modest interest rates. Despite the motley crew I encountered on the Gironde estuary, Bordeaux is an intelligent city. A centre for military, space as well as aeronautics research and with a contingent of 100,000 students, the university is lauded for its research units in crop science, new materials and nanotechnology. 2007 has been tipped as a regional investors’ ‘El Dorado’ as prices flatten. Prior to this, property values had increased by an average of 13 per cent per annum from 2004, while those of classical apartments rose by 17 per cent. Beside the town centre, some of the most popular areas are Chartrons, Cauderans, Le Bouscat and Victoire. The regions to the north and east of the Gironde are now teeming with UK expatriates, making integration with French society for the newcomer increasingly difficult. These areas also tend to be entirely rural and lacking in facilities so, unless you genuinely crave the rustic way of life, Gironde provides a more stimulating and sophisticated environment. With 270 kilometres of fine beaches, Europe’s best surfing locales and a climate rated by many as even better than the Mediterranean, Bordeaux surely has to be worth a look. Andy McTiernan is editor-in-chief of Property World Middle East. Contact him at: pworld@eim.ae www.propertyworldme.com

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Within an industry traditionally dominated by men, Spanish architect Eva Nombela Medina was ecstatic when Dubai Properties approached her office in Alicante in Spain and asked her to become the lead designer on a massive residential project in Dubailand. Just one glance at the plans for the thousands of Spanish villa's proposed for the area reveals the enormity of the project Eva has since undertaken, but despite heading up such a prestigious project, and perhaps in typical Spanish-style, Eva remains an endearingly modest professional. Born in Madrid 37-years ago, Eva vocalised from a young age her wish to follow her father's footsteps and become an architect. She did exactly that, and today is one of a small circle of women in the business who can boost owning her very own company. The reason Eva caught the attention of developers in Dubai is because Spanish style architecture is much sought after in Dubai and Eva is one woman who knows this style inside out. Eva's plans for 'The Villa' project sees 35,000,000 square feet of land transformed into a Mediterranean paradise with unique Spanish villas built to represent various parts of Spain, such as Barcelona, Alicante or Cordoba. Each Spanish villa promises meticulous detail, so much so, that historians have even been brought in to ensure that her designs adhere with the exact design details that would appear on villas from different regions throughout Spain. “Many Arabs love the Mediterranean lifestyle and that is why Spanish architecture is so popular in Dubai. The Arab and Spanish cultures have very close ties indeed and despite religious differences, there are numerous similarities between our lifestyles, and this translates into the architecture of both places too,” says Eva. “The Arabs had a great presence in Spain for a long time, and elements of their existence is still very evident in many ways today. The Arab people tend to identify with Spain and its people - they feel at home there very quickly. Perhaps they can sense their own heritage there. In the South of Spain in particular, the climate, the humidity, the plant life and the lifestyle is all very similar to the Middle East.” When asked what it is like to undertake a project in the world's fastest growing metropolis, Eva replied that Dubai is an architect's paradise. “Projects architects get to work on here would never be possible in Europe. Nowhere else can you find so much space to work with, so much free reign to design as you please, and most importantly so many clients with money ready to invest. Without a doubt as an architect Dubai is the most exciting place to work. There are no limits here and an architect's creativity is allowed to flow and develop without restriction.” However that lack of restriction and the lack of rules governing the continuity of style when it comes to the aesthetics of Dubai’s architecture has, according to Eva, also given rise to some shockingly bad architecture erected in Dubai over the years. But then again, they are hopefully drowned out by the good stuff to look at, like the Emirates Towers and the Burj Al Arab, she says.

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Now truthfully speaking, the politics in Ecuador is in disarray. No animosity toward foreign visitors or residents I hasten to add: as financial benefactors of the country, your credentials are beyond reproach. Still, despite the grubby and divisive political issues, Ecuador is what many are calling the future Costa Rica. It’s a place where one can wallow in Pacific waters along more than 2,000 kilometres of coastline punctuated by fishing villages. The country also boasts one of the most diverse landscapes on earth, ranging from breaking waves through the high Sierra of the Andes and the Amazon rain forest to the eco-wonders of the Galapagos Islands. Coming to the property market, which is the subject under discussion, it must be pointed out that foreigners hold exactly the same legal rights as Ecuadorians to owning property anywhere in the country. Once you have completed the purchase of a house, apartment or land in Ecuador, you can also apply for a residence visa immediately. This process is generally finalised within one month of application given the aid of a good lawyer. The prices are undoubtedly good and there is much on the market ranging from hotels and guest-houses to more modest second-home purchases. The examples given cover three distinctly different environments: “Deluxe ocean-front condos available in the province of Manabi for dhs 330,000. Boasts first-class landscape, barbeque area, jacuzzi, gazebos, valet parking and 24 hour security.” “Romantic, spacious and fully equipped river-front house on 5,990 square feet of land. Asking price: dhs473,000 (negotiable). Built in 2004, it is fully furnished and equipped to western standards.” “Available on the beautiful vistas of the Andean mountains, a well-maintained apartment located on the seventh floor of a ten-storey building. Only two apartments per floor, with two elevators for each floor. Fully furnished with appliances. Asking price:dhs605,550. All in all, Ecuador may seem a long way from the UAE, but if you are pining for that ‘now for something completely different’ second-home environment, it is most certainly worth the trouble. Andy McTiernan is editor-in-chief of Property World Middle East. Contact him at pworld@eim.ae www.propertyworldme.com

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Cambodia is both a beautiful and fascinating kingdom beset by a troubled history that previously stood in the way of national development and prosperity. Not any more.   Confidence in the longevity of a new-found stability has sparked a roaring economic renaissance in the kingdom. Like most nation states emerging from the political and socio-economic wilderness as a tourist destination, the property market has evolved as one of the pillars underpinning new Cambodia. Albeit under the jurisdiction of a regulatory model adopted from Thailand, there is far more room for growth in a property sector that starts at a significantly lower price pitch than its established Thai cousin. The most secure framework for foreign nationals to purchase land or property within Cambodia is to form a limited company in partnership with a Cambodian citizen. In this case, 49 per cent of the land or property is allocated to the foreigner and 51 per cent to the Cambodian business partner. However, prior to any investment transaction, the Cambodian citizen must sign a written agreement assigning complete power of attorney to the foreign national in respect of the land holding and the business process of the company. A more expensive alternative  for a foreigner is to gain an   honorary Cambodian citizenship by donating in excess of dhs143,000 to the government for the benefit of the people of Cambodia. That allows the foreign donor to acquire 100 per cent ownership and complete use of any land or property purchased within the country. So what can you get for your money? Here’s what: “In Siem Reap province: New villa for sale in a well-populated area. Two bedrooms attached with two baths, large car parking. Price dhs202,000.” And this: “Phnom Penh: Don't miss this one! Villa for sale, just a short distance from the main road in a well- populated area. Three floors with five beautiful bedrooms attached with four bathrooms, two living rooms, dining room, kitchen, small garden and carport. Price: dhs605,500.” And here’s yet another possibility: “Sihanouk Ville: Great location on the main road just 500 metres from downtown. On two floors with four bedrooms and five bathrooms, living room, kitchen, dining room, large car parking and beautiful big garden. Price: one million dirhams.” There are other forms of ownership including those with a lease-back period of 70 years to 99 years from a Cambodian citizen or marriage to same. So, what are you waiting for? Andy McTiernan is the editor-in-chief of Property World Middle East. Contact him at pworld@eim.ae www.propertyworldme.com

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In 1492, famed adventurer Christopher Columbus sailed the ocean blue. He landed in the Dominican Republic on December 5, naming it La Isla Española; some say he was confused, believing that he had set foot in America. However, the absence of any form of fast food chain on its shores should have corrected that impression within seconds!  Christopher returned to the island in 1493 and founded the first Spanish colony in the New World, the city of Isabella. So, in some respects, the Dominican Republic was already a property hot-spot in the 15th and 16th century. Today, the island has   extremely strong political and economic ties with North America: in fact, the Dominican American community in the US remit an estimated three billion dollars per annum to relatives at home. The country used to enjoy GDP growth of more than seven per cent between 1998 and 2000 before it got hit by the global economic slowdown. Things are getting better now and with the economy looking like it has hit bottom, it may be an auspicious time to buy property if you consider it as a long-term investment or a Caribbean second-home escape. There is a crop of top quality, low-rise new-build property in the pipeline at very acceptable prices. The climate is tropical with minimal seasonal temperature variation and cyclical rainfall. Add to this a mixed terrain of rugged highlands interspersed with fertile valleys and you have a very desirable destination. At 48,380 square kilometres, the Dominican Republic is slightly more than half the size of the UAE. By the look of it, there is considerable scope for development. While new builds are the theme of this article, a yen for the classic conquistador or a  plantation farmhouse may also be satisfied here. La Altagracia, for example, is a beautiful expanse of wide open space attracting many new residents every year. The golf estate boasts more or less perfect all-year weather conditions aside. Here is a sample of what’s on offer: “The apartments at La Gema Bahia come with full air-conditioning; the master bedroom comes with an on-suite bathroom and direct access to the balcony or terrace, combined dining and living room, two bedrooms, two bathrooms and views of the golf course. Price: dhs960,000.” Also, take a  look at this: “Palma Cana Golf Apartments is a luxury residential estate within the Cocotal Golf and Country Club. The Development consists of 24 apartments, one to three bedrooms, and communal swimming pool. Choice of ground floor or first floor apartments, views of the golf course, starting at dhs495,000.” Quite an appealing alternative in the tropics, wouldn’t you say? Andy McTiernan is the editor-in-chief of Property World Middle East. Contact him at pworld@eim.ae www.propertyworldme.com

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The origins of the city of York in the UK can be traced back almost 2,000 years. We see evidence of that from around AD 71 when the Romans in top colonial form conquered the Celtic tribes known as the Brigantes and founded Eboracum which, by the fourth century, was the capital of lower Britain. The ‘Middle Ages’ saw York develop into a kicking commercial centre and with the arrival of the railways, its industrial future was assured. I have felt for some time now that York is a sparkling location for property investment. Awash with visitors all year round, either in pursuit of its endless layers of history, education and business opportunities or feverishly putting their shirts on potential equine winners at its famous race tracks. The place is fairly galloping from strength to strength as a commercial centre and is a great place to live as well. Work on a dhs25.5 million   office development will start  this spring, marking a big vote of confidence in the future of this historical city. The two-storey, 14,500 sq ft development, dubbed The Edge, is being built by the York-based Shepherd Group. Another project, the York Science Park, at Heslington, adjacent to the University of York, just south-east of the city centre, has also attracted a lot of research and development, which can be a catalyst for technology transfer through direct business links. That makes for a booming local economy, I would say. There are some attractive residential opportunities in the area fresh from the agent’s window. Bearing in mind the legions of history tourists and new executive blood en route, there is short and long term rental potential. For example, consider this offering: “The Homestead is a spacious, period four-bedroom country house with outbuildings, stores and paddock. The property is situated in the village of Huby with easy access to the market town of Easingwold and York. In need of cosmetic upgrade, planning permission granted to extend the structure to a spectacular five bedroom property.” Price - dhs2.26 million. Rose-tinted investor spectacles anyone? Andy McTiernan is editor-in-chief at Property World Middle East magazine. Contact him at pworld@eim.ae www.propertyworldme.com

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I had an inkling that Germany would take off again as a property market following the euphoria of the build up to the World Cup. The construction industry was, of course, booming in anticipation of a warm welcome to Jules Rimet and his entourage and around that time, the Dubai Investment Group had  bought a 55,000 square metre shopping mall known as the MZ Centre in suburban Berlin for the princely sum of dhs380 million.

Now Germany is not the first destination that leaps to mind for second home seekers despite the accessibility and value for money.  However, the intuitive investor shrewdly tends to shy away from the beaten track. Of course, if you are in search of a period piece, then  you might be disappointed because the majority of German property was built post-1945, for obvious
reasons.

So then, why do new waves of investors think that Germany is the next big thing? As far as the European Housing Review 2006 is concerned, it is the only European country where residential property prices actually fell last year. We could also quote the wise owls at property analyst Merrill Lynch, who comment that the country, ‘has conspicuously failed to join in the global housing boom of the past ten years’. 

Now the plus point of entering a market when it is at a trough means that you stand a very good chance of  improving your yields even if the market turns remotely buoyant. And this market definitely looks set to rise; in some areas, it has already done so to the tune of 15 per cent in the past 18 months. Berlin, for a start, is well worthy of focus. The price of a central apartment in one of Europe’s most dynamic cities, which has become a magnet to artistic souls bailing out of London, Paris and Barcelona to avoid advancing penury, is 50 to 60 per cent cheaper than its London equivalent.

Now Friedenau is an affluent district in Berliner terms, but here a fully renovated, turn-of-the-century, six-room ground floor apartment with garden will reduce your bank account by no more than dhs1.4 million. Also, a fully refurbished city centre apartment block on Karl-Marx-Strasse with ten residential and three  commercial units will set you back dhs4.3 million - roughly the cost of a five bedroom villa in Dubai. Further afield in Frankfurt a four-bedroom, two-bathroom top floor apartment in Bornheim, built in the early 1900s and fully renovated  you back by dhs1.27 million.

With those kind of prices, Germany is definitely calling.

Andy McTiernan is editor-in-chief of Property World Middle East. Contact him at pworld@eim.ae
www.propertyworldme.com

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Many Americans dream of owning a beachfront home with ocean views, but big home insurance firms are retreating from the Atlantic coast amid fears that climate change will unleash more dangerous hurricanes.  The insurers say the risk of a ‘perfect storm’ causing vast damage to communities along the Atlantic coast has simply become too high since Hurricane Katrina obliterated New Orleans in 2005.

As a result, the country’s largest home insurers, State Farm and Allstate, have decided not to seek new business along wide stretches of the US East Coast. Tens of thousands of US home-owners may thus find it more arduous to obtain new insurance for coveted coastal properties in coming years. The insurers point out, however, that beachfront property prices have skyrocketed in recent years, coastal populations have boomed and building codes in some areas are not vigorous enough.

State Farm, the United States’ biggest home insurer, has decided not to write any new homeowner’s insurance policies for coastal communities stretching south from Delaware to North Carolina, according to spokesman Dick Luedke. “Our maxim is, we don’t want to make new promises that would in any way compromise the promises that we have already made,” Luedke said.

Allstate, the nation’s second-largest home insurer, is also not writing new insurance policies for homeowners in some Maryland and Virginia coastal areas. “We've looked at this ... to look at what our risk is on this coastline, and in some areas, it’s just too great for us to insure anymore,” Allstate spokeswoman Debbie Pickford said. Allstate is also not issuing new homeowner policies for all five boroughs of New York, where millions of people reside just above sea level, and Long Island. It will also not seek new business for the entire state of New Jersey from February 5.

Both insurers, however, are continuing to renew existing homeowner policies and stressed that coverage is not being cancelled. Smaller companies, meanwhile, are continuing to seek new business. The big insurers started rethinking their oceanfront exposure in the wake of the record-setting US hurricane seasons of 2004 and 2005, and especially after Hurricane Katrina ravaged the Gulf Coast city of New Orleans, Louisiana and Mississippi, killing over 1,000 people. “All the risk-modeling professionals and all the risk-management specialists out there are looking ten to 20 years down the road and saying, and scientific evidence, as well, and everyone is saying that you’ve got a perfect storm or catastrophes that could potentially affect the coastal areas,” Pickford said.

Allstate had to swallow a loss of $1.5 billion in the third quarter of 2005 due to Katrina and three other large storms as thousands of homeowners filed insurance claims. Pickford said Allstate also needs to ensure it has enough cash on hand to meet potential damage claims. Still, Patricia Campbell-White, a real estate broker,  says wealthy individuals are still buying multimillion-dollar oceanfront homes, and they are prepared to pay higher insurance premiums to live steps from the beach.

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It’s that time of year when I sincerely hope that a wave of Yuletide goodwill and bonhomie pervades your household. During this beautiful time, where would the most appropriate place on earth be to celebrate in your newly acquired second home? Why a log cabin in Lapland of course; a spell in the Arctic Circle would most certainly serve to sort the pioneers from the faint-hearted.

My recommendation should you miss the deep midwinter where frosty winds may moan, is take a long cool look at Ylläs.  Ylläs, it appears, is not only arguably Finland’s finest ski resort along with a catalogue of other winter activities but houses that prince of the red velvet suit and flowing white beard’s winter residence and elfin HQ.

When I use the term ‘long cool look’, I apply it in my own inimitable way as temperatures can drop as low as -40 degrees celsius but average around -12 degrees celsius. However, your very own log cabin is built to a spanking high standard to withstand any adverse effects from the big freeze outside. The walls are constructed from kelo logs, a traditional Scandinavian timber which is matured for more than 100 years and is known as ‘dead standing’ wood. As a word of encouragement to sufferers from endemic hypothermia, while all cabins are super insulated courtesy of this ingenious natural overcoat, they also include a wood-burning stove.

If your imagination is overrun by visions of fur clad trappers locked in the wilderness for months on end, then think again Rudolph. This country has on offer Versace-style luxury log cabins and they come in configurations of one or two bedrooms, include a fully fitted kitchen with white goods, sauna, log store and heated car parking space.  Each cabin is set amongst resin-scented pine forests and all these ‘super-cabs’ offer an extra sleeping area in an open plan mezzanine and an additional toilet in the larger versions for the Sahti impaired. In fact, the most aristocratic offering actually sports three storeys, which may prove somewhat of an impediment to the dedicated bon viveur.

Your arctic retreat is available in several different styles and price ranges. The ‘Teerentie’ one and two bedrooms at dhs680,000 to dhs770,000; the ‘Lumipolku’ at dhs925,000; ‘Hillankuku’ farmhouse style houses come for dhs1.15 million; and the triple floor ‘Akaskrispo’  is available for  dhs1.33 million. Strange names indeed but the Finnish language has no known bed-fellow in Europe so we may as well let sleeping elves lie. However, if you find the idea of a chunky warm wood structure with brightly lit apertures twinkling beneath snow-bent leaves charming in the first degree; then you could be destined for an arctic-ulate property investment.

Ylläs is renowned as one of Finland's best and most extensive ski areas for both alpine and cross-country skiing available between November and May.  So on to Kittila airport: trot on Prancer, now there’s a good fellow.

Andy McTiernan is editor-in-chief of Property World Middle East. Contact him at pworld@emirates.net.ae
www.propertyworldme.com

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