The Sliding Euro

[widge]

Interesting new slant on the decline in the Euro.
The sunday times has an article about the negative effect on Brits who want to sell and move back to the UK headline " Expats rush to sell up to flee Euro crisis "
After a few years of complaining about the decline in sterling we now see Brits abroad complaining when it moves the other way.
As far as Portugal is concerned for all who think things are worse the same article reports that 39% of UK propery owners in Greece are trying to sell, 34% in Spain but only 15% in Portugal.
This is one of the lowest as in other Eurozone countries the average is 23%.
The final paragraph in the article suggests that now is the time to buy if you have strong nerves as the stronger £ gives you more buying power !!

Outrageous guess but I suspect Portugal attracts more mature / less indebted buyers than Spain & Greece. A friend of mine from South Africa who visited me in Sesmarias recently asked "where are all the young people?" Average age in J'burg is 25 !

[Bruce Wallis]

There was an article in the Daily Telegraph, (I know...I know!), that there is a greater percentage of British socio economic ABC1's, in Portugal, than anywhere else in Europe other than the south of France.

[widge]

There was an article in the Daily Telegraph, (I know...I know!), that there is a greater percentage of British socio economic ABC1's, in Portugal, than anywhere else in Europe other than the south of France.

Do you have to be over 50 to be an ABC1 ?

Whatever, the bad news is that if it's true the Algarve is probably full of boring old farts who have more money than sense of adventure.................present company excluded of course Bruce ...cos we're only here for a good time not a long time!

[jamielyon4]

There was an article in the Daily Telegraph, (I know...I know!), that there is a greater percentage of British socio economic ABC1's, in Portugal, than anywhere else in Europe other than the south of France.

Do you have to be over 50 to be an ABC1 ?

Whatever, the bad news is that if it's true the Algarve is probably full of boring old farts who have more money than sense of adventure.................present company excluded of course Bruce ...cos we're only here for a good time not a long time!

absolutely spot on...live for today...looks like Bruce has been for a chippy tea reading The Guardian again

[Bruce Wallis]

There was an article in the Daily Telegraph, (I know...I know!), that there is a greater percentage of British socio economic ABC1's, in Portugal, than anywhere else in Europe other than the south of France.

Do you have to be over 50 to be an ABC1 ?

Whatever, the bad news is that if it's true the Algarve is probably full of boring old farts who have more money than sense of adventure.................present company excluded of course Bruce ...cos we're only here for a good time not a long time!

absolutely spot on...live for today...looks like Bruce has been for a chippy tea reading The Guardian again

GUARDIAN!!!! GUARDIAN!!!.......... To me that left wing toe licking labour rag, is a bigger insult than James Faro taking a subscription to the Mail!!!

[widge]

There was an article in the Daily Telegraph, (I know...I know!), that there is a greater percentage of British socio economic ABC1's, in Portugal, than anywhere else in Europe other than the south of France.

They tend to reside west of Carvoeiro favouring "Surbiton on the Hill" ..................of course their second holiday home is on the French Riviera between Eze & Niece !

[James Faro]

GUARDIAN!!!! GUARDIAN!!!.......... To me that left wing toe licking labour rag, is a bigger insult than James Faro taking a subscription to the Mail!!!

Hey, don't knock the Daily Mail! My neighbour buys it for her children but only when it includes a free packet of crayons to accompany it!

[EMM]

Very nice double page picture of carvoeiro in the property section of the Sunday Times this weekend.
The arcticle about buying a property for its rental potential reported a comment from Ownerd Direct that enquiries for Portugal rose by 34%in 2011 .

[widge]

Very nice double page picture of carvoeiro in the property section of the Sunday Times this weekend.
The arcticle about buying a property for its rental potential reported a comment from Ownerd Direct that enquiries for Portugal rose by 34%in 2011 .

Had a look at the Owners Direct web site & was amazed at the number of properties they have for rental ;

2000 in Western Algarve
2500 in Central Algarve
800 in Eastern Algarve

5300 properties times a 20 week season that's 106,000 1 week holidays at say £500 a week is £53million turnover potentially. That's an awful lot of competition & a very crowded market from just one agent!

My bookings are down 20% + on last year .............maybe I'm with the wrong agent?

[EMM]

We know of many who advertise on at least two of the major owner rental sites if not all 3 so there is a lot of duplication.
Also some agencies now use these sites so it is not as crowded a market as it would first appear.
After a slow start 2012 peak season looks to be as good as any other year.

[widge]

"]We know of many who advertise on at least two of the major owner rental sites if not all 3 so there is a lot of duplication.

But I only looked at owners direct ?

Are you saying that the 5300 properties include duplicate entries so that in fact there might only be 2000 in reality?

Also some agencies now use these sites so it is not as crowded a market as it would first appear.

Again are you suggesting that both the owner & their agent advertise the same property on owners direct . com?

[EMM]

You can sometimes find the same property on Owners Direct, Holiday lettings and Holiday Rentals ( the big 3 ) who account for most of the direct advertising .
All run promotions, Holiday lettings was giving 3 months for £1.99 for new advertisers.
New property adverts always attract more interest.

As in any business owners should shop around, change sites etc.

Your agent is your supplier and should not take you for granted, which I am sure many do.

[e-richard]

My bookings are down 20% + on last year .............maybe I'm with the wrong agent?

Owners Direct merely claimed that enquiries rose by 34%, not bookings.
Firstly you can get up to 10 or more enquiries for any single booking, so I have no idea what that statistic is telling us about bookings.
Secondly, I suspect that more visitors are sending out more enquiries per holiday than previous years.
- it could be they're looking harder for bargains.
- it could be that many owners (too many!) just do not bother to reply - or keep calendars up to date
- it could be that OD website encourages building a shopping list
- it could even be that holidaymakers are just dreaming and can no longer afford holidays

All in all, its a very spurious statistic.

[EMM]

It could be that rather than go through more expensive villa sites or package tours vistors are now looking for bargains.
Looking for the flexibility that being able to fly on the day with the lowest price etc offers.

Logically an increase in enquiries must result in an increase in bookings, obviously not 34% but up on the previous years.

[widge]

You can sometimes find the same property on Owners Direct, Holiday lettings and Holiday Rentals ( the big 3 ) who account for most of the direct advertising .
All run promotions, Holiday lettings was giving 3 months for £1.99 for new advertisers.
New property adverts always attract more interest.

As in any business owners should shop around, change sites etc.

Your agent is your supplier and should not take you for granted, which I am sure many do.

So they're not duplicated on the Owners Direct site as you implied they just advertise on more than one site which seems sensible.