Property insight

“Ultimately,” he concludes, “it’s not about just another big house, it’s about a beautiful home in a unique location that allows the owner to experience the recreational opportunities of the Rocky Mountain west.”

Eurovision sold contest

In Europe, the devaluation of the Euro against the U.S. dollar has made now a good time for North Americans to invest in the continent. From the Portuguese perspective, Ricardo Costa, economist and CEO of LUXIMOS, says the market is still “very interesting for investors. The North Americans are buying a lot in Portugal, as are the British, French, and Brazilians, although the North Americans are the most interesting case at the moment.”

Enticements are more far-reaching than just financial benefits. “Besides the good climate, the cost of living is relatively low and security is high. For several years, Portugal has led the ranking as one of the safest countries in the world,” observes Costa.

In the post-E.U.-membership U.K., a weaker pound is attracting interest from active international buyers. They are keen to capitalize on a good exchange rate while investing in the London market, which is “still favored as an extremely attractive and secure opportunity by many overseas buyers,” says Lisa Simon, head of residential, Carter Jonas, which was welcomed into the Christie’s International Real Estate family in January.

“The latter trend has created a huge backlog of demand for quality country houses and estates,” she continues. “Additionally, there continues to be a strong price premium paid for historical, period, and characterful homes.”

The shape of things to come

Across the board, there is cautious optimism for the coming months: “Heading into 2023, both Thad [Wong] and I felt the market was going to be better and stronger than what a lot of the housing bears were predicting. Even so, the resilience of buyers and sellers has been surprising,” says Golden. “Buyers and sellers have been relatively calm and rational. With all the noise out there—inflation, politics, etc—the consumer deserves a ton of credit for keeping their head and acting in their best interests, which in a lot of cases means going ahead with a purchase or sale.”

“One of the big surprises this spring has been that homes are selling very quickly. Some properties are even receiving multiple offers,” adds Wong. “A lot of buyers who took a step back last fall and winter came out early in 2023 in search of opportunity. But a key here is that sellers need to be priced to market, and their homes need to be turnkey. The days of buyers looking past condition and cost are over.”

Both Golden and Wong predict it will be the high-end first-time buyer that will drive the market. “These are people who don’t have a home to sell… they’re paying record rents, so home prices in the high six figures or even above $1 million—which is the entry point in many prime markets—are not going to hold them back,” they observe.

In the U.K., Carter Jonas’s Simon is “confident that if we have good-quality stock this spring and early summer, savvy buyers will use the perceived lower levels of competition to snap up a quality property.” For Vanassche, however, the rest of the year in the Caribbean will be something of a double-edged sword. On the one hand, there is good feeling about the market through the end of the third quarter, but concerns about inflation, interest rates, and the general macro environment remain.

The big challenge this year will be inventory, “which I think will stay low,” believes Aaron Kirman, president and CEO at AKG Christie’s International Real Estate in Los Angeles, California. “However, I remain hopeful that Q3 interest rates will decrease, driving movements up again.”

Currently, the kind of property investors are buying this year, “is a bit all over the place,” he says. “We are still seeing a remarkable demand for vacation destinations. We’re also seeing a lot of foreign money come back into the space while also noticing a lot of stateside money being spent abroad.”

As the world learned last March when the Russia/Ukraine conflict began, or when the pandemic hit in 2020, it is difficult to predict what a year can bring. The market, however, is proving to be resilient—bar any major upsets. b

Berkeley Square, London, England

A favorable exchange rate continues to draw investors to the British capital.