Bulgaria, the African island of Cape Verde and Canada are the new top holiday home destinations, figures reveal. One in ten inquiries about foreign holiday homes in the UK is about Bulgaria, which has become the latest holiday home hotspot for Britons. Spain leads, nevertheless, in the quest for the biggest land grab abroad after the Second World War.

"The number of properties bought by Britons in the former Eastern bloc country has risen by 38% since January", Glasgow Evening Times reported.

However, Spain still remains Britain's sweetheart destination, with 27% of all Britons' second homes and holiday homes abroad located in Spain. The Spanish Ministry of Tourism expects 1 million foreigners to set up a home on the Spanish coast in the next six years.

According to Banco Halifax Hispania, the Spanish arm of Halifax, the UK's largest mortgage lender, the main drive to buying in Spain were the low rate Euro mortgages and the boom in low cost budget airlines flying to Spain.

The passenger numbers from UK airports tripled from 1987 to 2005, with a 9% growth in 2004 alone. The low-cost flights to and from Spain are up 25% from last year, while low cost operators in Spain have increased 160%. This growth has not only opened new possibilities for the DIY traveller, but has also led to the development of new, regional airports. 

With all the low cost flights leaving to Spain from many national and regional UK airports, the Britons have a wide array of options for shorter, more frequent, affordable trips to Spain. It seems to be an overpowering drive for many Britons who buy holiday homes in Spain. A research from Euromonitor's "Travel and Tourism in Spain" report, shows that short trips of one to three days are the fastest growing type of holidays in Spain, accounting for 37% of all trips to Spain in 2004. The trend is only accentuating as more and more people discover a very accessible and affordable Europe on their doorsteps. 

Flying to Spain is nowadays often quicker and cheaper than rail travel within the UK, which fuels the drive of more people to use short trips and even commit themselves to buying a holiday home abroad.

Turkey has seen a holiday home boom after opening up its property market to foreign investors. Previously there was a suspension last year on foreigners being allowed to buy properties in Turkey, but it's all changed now. Buying a holiday home, be it a villa with a swimming pool, cottage, appartment is much easier now, although being subjected to an approval from the Turkish Army. The approval normally adds 3-4 weeks to the buying process.

Turyap, one of the largest real estate companies in Turkey, have estimated that property prices in Instanbul alone will rise 80-120 % this year, after an 85% rise in 2005. It's all the result of foreign investments pouring in, the start of the talks with European Union and the launch of mortgages.

After a new law, allowing foreigners to buy land was passed at the end of 2005, holiday home investors from all over Europe have rushed to snap a holiday home bargains on the Aegean coast. Many agents claim that a lot of the money people were spending on holiday homes in Spain are now redirected to the more promising Turkey. The main draw for this landgrab, be it from private holiday home wannabe owners or from commercial entities, is no doubt the higher return rates they get from investing in the property market in Turkey.

With all the interest in Turkey and in the turkish holiday home market, there is no wonder that EasyJet is preparing to open up a new route from London to Istanbul. The move by such a big budget airline is usually a good indicator of the touristic interest in the area and also in the property market. It's no secret that having an airport near-by, especially one served by a budget airline like EasyJet, lifts dramatically the property prices in the area, as the majority of holiday home owners dream of weekend escapes. It is also an advantage when renting out the holiday home to DIY travellers.

There are exciting news on the market of low budget airlines. The main news comes from BA which has recently cut prices on some of its flights to european destinations as they are aiming to grab more DIY travellers. Some of BA prices compare now with the likes of EasyJet, RyanAir. However, British Airways tries to preserve its image and play above the no-frills league, one example being that they still offer food and drinks for free on these destinations, while the other budget airlines charge for these extras.

As for destinations, low budget airlines are always on the expansion. Here's a brief list of what's new and hot:

EasyJet

- On April 11th, Easyjet added 3 new routes from Liverpool to Faro in Porgugal, Krakow in Poland and Marseille in France

- On March 7th, Easyjet announced 10 more routes.
      London Gatwick to Split (Croatia) to open 2nd of May, 4 times a week (Tue, Wed, Thu, Sat), price starts: £25.99 one way
      London Luton to Bordeaux (France) to open 29th of June, daily, price starts: £25.99 one way
      London Luton to Rimini (Italy) to open 29th of June, 4 times a week (Tue, Thu, Sat, Sun), price starts: £25.99 one way
      Edinburgh to Alicante (Spain) to open 20th of May, on Saturdays, price starts: £30.99 one way
      Bristol to Toulouse (France) to open 21st of July, Daily, price starts: £20.99 one way
      Bristol to Krakow (Poland) to open 21st of July, 4 times a week (Mon, Wed, Fri, Sun), price starts: £25.99 one way
      Bristol to la Rochelle (France) to open 21st of July, 4 times a week (Mon, Wed, Fri, Sun), price starts: £20.99 one way
      Bristol to Marseille (France) to open 22nd of July, 3 times a week (Tue, Thu, Sat), price starts: £20.99 one way
      Bristol to Rijeka (Croatia) to open 22nd of July, 3 times a week (Tue, Thu, Sat), price starts: £25.99 one way
      Paris Orly to Ajaccio (Corsica) to open 14th of July, Daily, price starts: €34.99

- On February 28th, Easyjet announced a new route from London Luton to Lisbon (Portugal)

Ryanair

- On April 12th, Ryanair announced 9 new routes from Frankfurt Hahn to Fez, Granada, Kaunus, Krakow, Marrakesh, Murcia, Trieste, Verona, Wroclaw, prices starting from €2.99 (one way, excluding taxes and charges)

- On April 4th, Ryanair launched 11 new routes from Liverpool to Aberdeen, Alghero, Ancona, Inverness, Kaunas, Krakow, Poznan, Santander, Santiago, Tampere, Wroclaw, prices starting from €2.49 (one way, excluding taxes and charges)

Other low budget airlines: Air Berlin, BMI Baby, FlyBe, jet2, Wizzair.

With all these new destinations, expect to see the holiday home market to boom around these new locations.

From Metro today:

The number of people taking package holidays slumped to its lowest level for 20 years last year, figures revealed yesterday. Just 13 per cent of the 229million people using British airports were taking a charter flight, the Civil Aviation Authority said. The slump was put down to the increasing popularity of DIY holidays, where tourists book flights and accommodation separately.

"A place in the sun live" show was a busy beehive mainly populated by property developers, trying to sell that magic holiday home in the sun that every brit dreams about. Among the popular destinations, the usual suspects France, Spain, Italy, but also some new contenders that are already proving very popular with holiday home buyers. Bulgaria was one of the star of the show, Turkey, Cape Verde, Malta and Cyprus following closely. It's interesting to see how holiday home buyers keep searching ever more distant shores as the traditional destinations become overcrowded and overpriced.

One problem with the holiday homes on sale is generally the fact that they look like huge depersonalised farms, all the houses in the complex looking the same. This lack of personality can be very off putting for buyers that actually want to live in their holiday homes, personality being a very important item on the shopping list. These holiday homes are more appealing to investors, people that buy properties in the sun with the idea of renting them out to holidaymakers, letting them long term or just waiting for their value to go up.

And speaking of letting holiday homes, a very popular seminar during the exhibition was "Hot tips on letting your dream holiday home". The seminar room was absolutely packed with people, while others were left at the door as the room couldn't accommodate everyone. Many people were taking notes and many people were actually owners of properties with a genuine interest in letting their properties in the sun.

Since the seminar was conducted by a web based advertising company, the main tips revolved around advertising online, which tends to be the main source of bookings anyway these days. It is becoming increasingly easy to advertise your holiday home online and just handle the bookings yourself. However, there are some local issues to be considered, like cleaning the house, checking it for damages, general maintenance (e.g. a swimming pool) and so on. In the end, it's all about having the required entrepreneurial skills required to transform your dream holiday home into an income generating business.

"A place in the sun Live" exhibition is under way this weekend, starting today. It takes place at ExCeL London and it's supposed to be the live version of the popular Channel 4's A Place in the Sun. For those of you not familiar with the it, A Place in the Sun is a tv show following experiences of people looking to buy holiday homes abroad.

 

Some highlights of the exhibition, as promised by the organisers

• Discover the world’s best overseas properties for sale
• Find trusted information, guidance and advice on every aspect of buying your dream home abroad
• Learn more about the way of life in your dream destination
• Enjoy a fantastic day out in London!

 

Several interesting seminars will be running in two exhibition theatres, among the favourites being

• Financing your dream home
• Setting up a business abroad
• Buying a property in France
• Buying a property in Turkey
• Buying a property in Spain
• Hot tips for letting property

The latter being interesting topic as more and more people want to rent their holiday homes during the time they are not in and help pay off the mortgage or make a profit. Renting can be especially daunting if you don't have the experience to work with customers in the hospitality industry. As people choose a DIY approach to rent out their holiday villa, cottage or self-catering flat, these tips for letting and making your customers happy will come handy.

According to a study published earlier this year by The Office for National Statistics, 260,000 people in Britain own holiday homes abroad, a 50% increase since 2000.

The favourite holiday home destination for Britons is still Spain. One in four people of the total have a second home in Spain. British represent the largest group of European foreigners in Spain. The second in line is France with 51,000 Britons choosing it as their holiday home destination.

The majority of buyers are in their 40s-50s. They mainly buy a holiday home as a retirement option, many of them visiting during the year and renting it out to friends, relatives or using different rental agencies. The preferred locations are near airports served by budget airlines as many of them want to travel to their property just for weekend breaks during the year.

The main attractions in buying abroad are among other things the nice spanish weather with more than 300 days of sun each year, the french lifestyle, the glamour of Cote d'Azure and the laid back spanish siesta. But with prices ever increasing, Britons are looking to go even more into debt following the their dreams of sunny retreats.

The average prices for holiday homes range between £150,000-£200,000, while properties prices in high demand areas can well exceed £300,000. With new destinations added to the list every day and with Britons willing to stray farther from home to get their value for money, how will this holiday home bonanza shape up the future of travel and of Europe itself?