Florida Remains Most Popular Destination for Online Searches

Florida is still the most searched for destination by international property buyers looking to purchase in the US. According to residential property site Point2. Florida retained its top spot in the last quarter of 2011 for the second consecutive quarter.

Point2 found that Florida accounted for 31.04% of all international searches in the last quarter of 2011, losing just 2% to other states. Arizona is still the second most popular destination, and it saw the number of searches increase from 15.15% in the third quarter to 19.44% in the fourth quarter. Nevada remained in third place, although its share of the traffic increased only slightly to 8.61% from 8.22%.

It's not all good news as apparently international traffic to the top 10 states decreased significantly from 31.59% in the fourth quarter of 2010 to just 23.41% in the fourth quarter of 2011. This is a clear sign that the global recession is far from over, and buyers from China are proving more reticent to purchase property.

Most of the buyers come from Canada, as Canadian buyers accounted for a whopping 93.58% of searches for Arizona property, 78.28% for Hawaiian property and 74.11% of those searching for homes in Michigan. Buyers from Great Britain and Mexico were second and third highest respectively for the fourth quarter.

The most popular city for overseas buyers was Las Vegas as it accounted for 14.53% of all traffic during quarter four. The city of Mesa in Arizona was the second most popular city, while Orlando in Florida was in third place. However a list of the top 20 cities shows seven cities were in Florida.

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Fractional Ownership Property - Fool-Proof Entry Level Investment

Most of you will have heard the term fractional ownership by now, it has increased massively in popularity since the credit crunch increased risk aversion in the field of overseas property investment.

Though there are different set-ups, fractional ownership is -- exactly what it sounds like -- buying a fraction of a property in conjunction with other fractional owners, each buying and owning an equal share with equal rights over usage and equal shares of any rental income.

It is an excellent entry level investment, because the outlay is minimised, and while the returns and split, so is the potential risks involved.

You can look at it like this, what you are paying out is cheap for a lifetime of holidays in top-notch accommodation, that way any returns are a bonus. For example:

I have just found a fractional ownership development on sale at azureoverseas.com, £16,000 buys you an 1/8th share of a 1 bedroom bungalow in a fully equipped Costa Caleta resort. The package includes 6 weeks of usage throughout the year for each of the owners.

For the six weeks holiday for 4 people in the level of (5 star) accommodation that it is, you would be paying at least £3,000 each year. Thus after 6 years of usage the property has paid for itself and any returns you have made during that time and from then on are a bonus.

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