Holiday home season kicks off with four-city event

With sales of overseas holiday homes expected to remain strong again this year, a new round of property exhibitions is due to get under way later this month in Dublin and other cities.

The Worldwide Property Show is to embark on a four-city tour, opening in Cork on January 29th, then moving on to Limerick and Galway before finishing up in Dublin on February 5th and 6th.

Last year, the exhibition concentrated mainly on holiday homes in Spain and Florida. The organiser, Mike Bridge of the London-based Worldwide Property Exhibitions, says the Irish market is seen as "probably the hottest in Europe at the moment" because of the number of Irish people buying abroad. For this reason, other countries were now about to pitch at the Irish market. For the first time, the Irish exhibitions would have sales agents from Malta, Cyprus, Crete, Hungary and the Bahamas. Other countries to be represented will include Spain, Portugal, the US, and the UK.

However, most Irish families still prefer the south of Spain because of the ever increasing number of direct flights from Ireland to Malaga and Alicante. Mr Bridge said the Irish are now buying almost as many holiday homes in the south of Spain as the Germans and this trend was expected to continue.

Families looking for an alternative venue may well be bowled over by the prospect of picking up a new home on the Greek island of Crete for a mere £20,000. And if that is too expensive, Creteland Properties will also be offering a range of refurbished homes in the same olive groves from £17,000.

Another estate agency will be taking bookings for 1,300 sq ft apartments on the Maltese island of Gozo, costing from £45,000.

To encourage foreign investment, the Maltese authorities have introduced tax breaks and eased residency restrictions, according to show organisers.

Local agents exhibiting at the show will include Irish Property Consultants, which will be marketing a broad range of properties including some south of Alicante where the majority of Irish investors are buying. Sales in the Costa Blanca area have been greatly helped by the opening of three top-class golf courses. Golf apartments start at £65,000 while villas generally start at £100,000. Beach apartments are usually cheaper, ranging from £50,000 while detached properties can cost from £80,000.