Istanbul Number One for overseas property investors, second year running.

Pricewaterhouse Coopers say while London’s real estate market struggles and investors look away there are new hotspots attracting the attention of property investors.

Istanbul leads the way with, Munich and Warsaw been the new hotspots for investors and developers turning away from the rest of Europe’s stagnation and rising out of control unsustainable debts.

While London which has always attracted the overseas investors as a must for inclusion in any property portfolio, it is falling out of favor and has slipped down the rankings and is now placed 10^th out of places to invest reports PricewaterhouseCoopers and the Urban Land Institute. The concern is that London is now regarded as too expensive when you look at the economic forecast and what is actually happening. The financial crisis continues throughout Europe with uncertainty of when it will stabilize or totally capitulate then add to this the uncertainty of the Euro as a currency you can understand the change in attitudes.


The change of locations is happening now as investors cannot see a realistic end to the problems and with no upturn insight and no indications of a future one happening soon, investors have turned their backs on London and looked for new options.


A big part of the problem does stem from the unwillingness of banks to fund real estate investment, though it has to be said that the problem cannot be put entirely on to the Banks themselves, but imposed governmental regulatory changes are really forcing the Banks to be more cautious in their approach to lending. This does though create excellent investment opportunities for those who have the capital to invest in growing property markets.


Istanbul is still the number one and is predicted to continue for the year ahead as Turkeys overall growth continues to prosper. For a steady approach Munich with it its low unemployment and Germanys’ relative stability came second, third place is Warsaw, with its emergence as Eastern Europe's financial hub, having an impact with the need for more office space in the city.


Istanbul still shows no sign of slowing and if anything with the continued press and media predictions more investors are starting to look here to not miss out and it seems that anything will sell in Istanbul. The problem many investors have who is not familiar with Istanbul is the reality that there are some locations and developments where high investment returns are very achievable. The flip side is there are also many more that are just there for the ill informed investor, these are usually in poor locations and need the marketing campaigns by overseas property sales companies to actually sell them by offering the tactic of rent guarantees to fool the investor, in reality these are development with increased prices to cover the guarantees you have to ask the question after the two or even five years where will the rental income come from then.


It should still not put off the investor looking for a piece of the action in Istanbul but choose your development carefully to really reap the rewards.

Turkish Airlines Best European Airline 2011 to provide passengers with high-speed Internet

It was announced today that Turkish Airlines European Airline of the year 2011 has started to provide Wi-Fi broadband Internet access for its trans-Atlantic passenger flights from today.

This is in addition to the existing PLANET in-flight live television service which is already in use on its trans-Atlantic flights.

For those travellers will have super fast connection to the internet through their smart phones, tablets, Laptops and other WLAN-enabled devices.

Initially there will be an introductory period after which passengers will then be able to access the on-board Wi-Fi services via with an access code, available for credit card purchase.

Turkish Airlines means business having won the award and rightly so, this comes on the back of been the first Airline to offer live TV on tans-Atlantic flights, and its sponsorship with Barcelona and Manchester United football clubs.

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Travel and Living in Turkey Copyright© 2012

Deyrulzafaran Manastırı

Hold on tight Europe, Turkey is coming to rescue you

At a conference in Munich today Egemen Bagis Turkeys EU Minister and Chief Negotiator whilst giving a speech to those at the conference on “Turkey in the 21st century” Bagis said “ we are more determined than ever to become a member of the EU” and stated that his new slogan is ”˜hold on tight Europe, Turkey is coming to rescue you’.”

In Turkey there are in excess of 30,000 foreign companies and that Turkey as a nation is growing even though all around are in crisis. Turkey’s economic growth rate is 8% whilst the average for the rest of the European countries was at 1.5%.

For those who do not see Turkey having a realistic chance to join the EU should think again, as one of the most progressive countries globally Turkey is striving to satisfy all the chapters required to meet the criteria. The next big question is why would Turkey want to join the EU? It seems to be not just weathering the economic storm but prospering from it under the leadership and guidance of Prime Minister .Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The many who have visited Turkey on a regular basis will have seen the changes and prosperity happening, and it is thought there is much more to come as Turkey presses on as a country with belief in its strengths, which it has many, agriculture, construction, manufacturing and of course tourism. How many EU member countries can speak about these sectors in this way? We should be looking at how we can get Turkey to join the EU soon just in case Turkey decides otherwise. International news agency 2012