Tempted by a touch of oriental space

Shanghai was the hit of the Homes Overseas Exhibition at the RDS at the weekend - but Thailand was tempting too. Kate McMorrow watched as people bought property abroad at a staggering rate

Shanghai and Bulgaria were nearly sold out and you couldn't get near the Florida stands. If the crowds who flocked to the RDS last weekend for the Homes Overseas Exhibition were anything to go by, property abroad is becoming the number one option for Irish investors.

The couple who bought the last available one-bed apartment at Pomerie Golf and Beach Resort in Bulgaria were in two minds about the €500 non-refundable deposit. She thought it was a great bargain, not to be missed at €51,000. How could they lose?

He went along with it despite misgivings: neither has ever been to Bulgaria. They weren't even sure where it was on the map. Her bemused mother couldn't get over the high-flying impetuosity of the whole transaction.

Shanghai was the hit of the show. Corkman David Cunningham operates Shanghai Vision, a company that sources properties for buyers looking for investment return. A surprising spread of buyers - some as young as 21 - booked inspection flights and almost 60 per cent of his properties had been sold by Saturday afternoon. €120,000 buys a two-bedroom apartment suitable for renting to Shanghai's expanding expat community.

Never was the global village concept more in evidence than on this stand, where a video of the Chinese city was catching the eye of passers-by. The current visit of President Mary McAleese to China has boosted interest, says David Cunningham, who was snowed under with calls from prospective buyers on Monday morning.

Some corporate customers were keen to add "a touch of oriental space" to their portfolio, says David. Another was a farmer from the west, who wanted to invest the proceeds of the sale of 100 acres.

With Virgin Airline running flights to Shanghai and racing driver Eddie Jordan's involvement in Formula One racing in China, he viewed this country as a safer bet than the Spanish costas.

Some were buying with a combination of investment and personal use in mind. At the Ocean Estates stand, people were booking inspection flights to Phuket in Thailand, where ultra-luxurious two-bedroom apartments in a new spa aparthotel were going from the equivalent of €299,000.

Livingrooms floating over a private lake, plasma screens in every room and Egyptian sandstone bathrooms are included at Pura Varna, which is 1.5 km from one of Thailand's legendary west coast beaches.

Some exhibitors were stingy with brochures, relying on heavy sales patter to persuade punters to part with their money on the day. Golf properties selling off plans in Portugal, Spain and the Côte d'Azur in France were doing a roaring trade.

Well-known French agency Conseil Patrimoine was offering one-bedroom apartments in Antibes with a leaseback agreement. No golf, but direct flights from Dublin to Nice were a huge incentive. Net returns of 5.5 per cent are guaranteed, with the option of occasional use of the apartment.

In Villamoura in the Portuguese Algarve, a controlled environment far removed from its slightly honky-tonk neighbours further along the coast, a new golf resort by top Irish developer Newlyn and MacKenzie Homes was doing well.

Two-bedroom apartments from €300,000 and villas from €800,000 are being built on a coastal site which is part of the new extended Villamoura. It wasn't all about investment however. France, Cyprus, Portugal, Turkey and Spain were running out of brochures, as families queued up to put down deposits on holiday homes in the sun.

Only one company, Azur Assistance, was offering Italian properties, a shortfall which disappointed many visitors. A romantic ruin on a Tuscan hillside for €250,000 was particularly tempting.

Predictably, the Spanish costas were heavily represented. From Marbella to Murcia, buyers had plenty of choice, from a one-bed apartment in Almeria for €70,000 through Spanish Coast Property to a magnificent €5.7 million villa overlooking Malaga with Interealty. In between were a selection of resale and new properties to fit most pockets.

The promise of direct flights from Ireland to Newfoundland drew ski enthusiasts to the Humber Valley stand, where Premier resorts was selling furnished chalets on Deer Lake from €292,000.

The prices were a huge draw. For €145,000, the cost of a one-bedroom apartment in the midlands, you could buy a house with a pool in Paphos from Pafilia, which operates from Coleraine in Co Derry.

Also in evidence was South Africa, a perennial favourite with Irish buyers and soon to be accessible direct from Dublin. The Cape Town office of Engel & Volkers is run by Irishman Patrick O'Shea, who was extolling the virtues of buying from a local agent who is familiar with the right locations to buy into.

A seafront house divided into three apartments in Simonstown - the Dalkey of the Cape - is selling for €196,000 and a leafy villa in rural Constantia in the winelands costs €342,000.

Detached villas near Disneyland in Florida, fully-equipped, were flying off the MacAnthony Realty stand for €165,000. Coldwell Banker had a good selection of Florida resales, with three-bed three-bath golf properties costing around €215,000.

Turkey is the new Torremolinos for Irish buyers and property is unbelievably cheap here. Turkish Estate Agency had large new and second-hand villas starting at €166,000.

One enterprising couple who had failed to get a stand at the RDS were handing out leaflets and brochures on their Turkish properties outside the main gate.

Med Dreams, which is running an exhibition at the Red Cow on October 26th, was offering apartments from €35,000 and villas from €50,000.