Post GFC property investing is a very different ball park.  Many of those who have retained their wealth through the crisis are looking for more conservative investment opportunities to protect their capital as well as give them opportunities for growth.

International property investors are seeking countries with:

• Consistently performing economies and opportunities for above average growth,
• Stable Governments that are pro international property investors
• Strong land title ownership laws
• Well understood legal system such as the English Legal System

This provides property investors with more confidence that their funds will be safe and they will be able to benefit.  A number of countries around the world offered this profile pre GFC, and post GFC the list is considerably smaller.

The next layer is to consider:

• Population and infrastructure growth to support capital gains growth
• Housing demand increasing
• Growing rental returns.

This is where Australia is shining brightly.

• We have population growth of 2%+ that is greater than China and India: World Bank

• Capital growth surged 12% in 2009 for Australia and 18.5% in Melbourne: David Airey President of the Real Estate Institute of Australia (REIA)

• Housing demand is increasing based on immigration figures and reducing household size

• Rental returns growth: 2.9% annually for houses and units, some suburbs up to 26%: RP Data Tim Lawless.

If you were overseas and had capital to invest in property where would you put your money to mitigate your risks of investing?

• Into the USA with its subprime crisis still undermining property prices in many areas?

• Into the UK which is still struggling to create economic growth¹?  The economy contracted 0.6% in 4^th Qtr 2009.

• Into the European holiday markets where Greece, Spain, Portugal and Ireland are requiring massive financial bailout packages from the rest of the world²?

• Into Asian economies that are still emerging and have mixed property ownership titling, considerable risk of changing Governments changing property investment laws³.

or

• Into Australian property?

This can help boost local profits as money arriving from overseas for property investment has the potential to increase the amount of money in the economy and trigger the next housing growth cycle.  Look where overseas property investors are buying and consider how this might impact your property investment strategy.