Property locations with staying power

With billionaire investment magnate Warren Buffett proclaiming that America’s residential housing problems should soon be largely “behind us”, investor confidence in the US market is slowly returning, with real estate experts encouraging foreign buyers – with long-term prospects in mind – to re-enter the market.

Sceptics might cite factors such as competitive interest rates and price resetting as the market slowly absorbs inventory, but there’s more to it than that, says Gerard Pinot of Horizon Realty (www.horizonrealty.org). “Mortgage delinquency in the US hasn’t been uniform,” he says. “House price stability in states like Washington and Oregon, along with parts of Florida, are still on an upward track thanks to income trend and development restrictions.

“Areas like Mississippi and Louisiana continue to carry abnormally high sub-prime debt, but at least purchasers are now in a position to give them a wide berth. For 'clean’ buyers with the time, money and patience to be in for the long haul, investment opportunities are there.”

His comments also have resonance on a global scale, says Ray Withers, of homes investment consultancy Property Frontiers.

Source: Telegraph.co.uk