“We believe land should be owned by New Zealand citizens and residents only and our laws should be changed to say that,” they said. “Why should we allow Singaporean, Australian or American speculators to buy investment properties in our country, shutting first-time home buyers from the market.

“The Government has a responsibility first and foremost to ensure New Zealand citizens and residents can afford to buy a stake in their own country.”

With the dollar falling and the banks lowering their interest rates, no capital gains tax or stamp duty to pay, and a thriving business environment, it is no surprise that there are increasing numbers of foreign property investors looking to New Zealand to expand their property portfolio. Most foreign property investors in the country currently come from the UK, Australia and America.

Despite this, some believe that the market will start to grow again in the next few years. There are still good bargains to be picked up too – location is probably the key factor with popular holiday resorts and city locations still attracting strong rental yields and strong demand from investors.

For the more risk-averse investor, the commercial sector is probably the best area to invest in – the commercial property market in Bulgaria is still going strong and will probably not see the same sort of lull as the residential market. Investing in cities such as the capital, Sofia, are probably the best bet, with more regional cities such as Varna, Burgas and Pleven also worth a look.

The investment is good not just for the Games, but also for China’s future – the new underground lines coupled with all the new developments means that there are now huge residential opportunities throughout the country. The expanding infrastructure means that commercial hubs throughout the country are ever more accessible and this is opening up new land for residential development.

Despite this, caution is urged. Beijing’s property price history looks tempting – property prices in Beijing are said to be up by around 115% percent since 2004, with an 11 percent increase in 2007 alone. However property prices are down around 3 percent this year, and when the Games finish and focus switches away from the country, property price growth is not expected to continue on a strong upward trend.

It’s not all doom and gloom – picking the right property will still see price growth and good rental yields, however the overall market is not expected to boom. It is believed by many that Beijing’s property market has already experienced it’s peak with many property investors having already turned their focus away from the country and towards the new property hot spots.

Last year, over 25 million people visited London and contributed nearly £16.6 billion towards the travel and tourism industry ensuring that property investors with stakes in hotels and properties had good returns on their investments.

However the credit crunch looks like it is starting to bite and the current economic climate means that Visit London believe that the number of visitors to the city will fall by 2.7 percent in 2008 to around 24.8 million visits, and by a further 1.2 percent in 2009 to around 24.5 million visits. Visitors are also expected to spend less than in previous years when inflation is taking into account. It should be noted that these figures only take into account those people who stay in the capital for at least one night and do not take into account day-trippers.

The drop in numbers is both in the domestic and international tourism market, with one of the largest predicted downturns in the American market as a weak dollar means many Americans are not looking to travel or spend so much money. Japanese tourism is also predicted to fall.

The Euro has strengthened against the Pound however this alone has not been able to persuade large enough numbers of Europeans to visit London to offset the loss in the American market. Russian, Indian and Middle Eastern tourism is expected to grow slightly.

Most of the tourism industry has seen a small downturn in numbers and spend, and the trend is expected to continue. Bookings for hotels and other holiday accommodation are said to be soft. Despite this, it could be good news for some property investors – if the tourism market continues to be less than buoyant, property prices may well fall and if this is the case, there may be plenty of property bargains to be snapped up.

Many Argentineans also choose to take holidays in their own country so although many foreigners visit the country each year, the domestic tourism market is also strong – good news for property investors as it means the rental market in the country is good and the potential for both rental prices and housing prices to grow substantially is strong.

There is also a wide range of real estate to take advantage of, depending on your risk profile. For those who aren’t keen on risks, there are plenty of opportunities to buy land at relatively cheap prices near hotel resorts. The most expensive areas of Argentina are currently in the wine-growing regions of Mendoza and in and around Buenos Aires.

For those who would like to take more of a risk, it might be worth looking in the more outlying areas where property and land is far cheaper but there is currently not good travel links or infrastructure. Any investments here would generally be for the longer term and may prove to be a good move – around $5.5 billion is expected to be invested into the country in 2008, with even more predicted over the next few years. With this in mind, there is a good chance that travel links will improve in the medium term, and property and real estate prices in these areas of Argentina will therefore grow accordingly.

In all, seven beaches will be targeted. 14 million cubic metres of sand will be brought in to spruce up some of the beaches, and buildings which are deemed damaging to the coastal environment will be knocked down.

There are also plenty of other tourism traps planned – many golf courses and spas are already being built, with many investors from Mexico and the US already investing in the country.

All this means that the island, which is the second largest in Caribbean, should be a good bet for anyone looking to invest in a sun-drenched country. Any increase in tourism should push up rental prices, and in the medium-term, real estate and property prices are also expected to grow.

However over the past decade or so, Estonia has gained it’s independence, the government has started to liberalize laws regarding foreign property ownership, and the Estonian Tourist Board is working hard to promote the country around the world. All this means that Estonia is starting to become one of the most hotly tipped places in Eastern Europe to buy.

Buying a Property in Estonia
The process of buying real estate and property in Estonia may look daunting at first glance but the Estonia government has been working hard to make life easier for foreign nationals attempting to buy property in the country.

There are two main contracts that are required in Estonia property sales and both documents should be prepared by an authorised notary. In Estonia, it is compulsory that a notary is involved in real estate sales. If you would prefer not to have a notary prepare the contracts, it is possible for someone else to draft them however a notary is required to review them in detail to ensure that everything meets the requirements of Estonian law and that they accurately reflect the property transaction.

The first agreement that will be prepared is the sales-purchase agreement. This will be drawn up once the buyer has made an offer on the property for sale and the vendor accepts the price. Usually, it takes between two to four weeks for the sales-purchase agreement to be drawn up.

Once the seller has accepted an offer on the property, the buyer is usually expected to find financing for their property deal. The buyer must also now pay a state fee to the Estonian government – this is 0.4 percent of the value of the real estate they are buying. Mortgages can be obtained by foreign investors in Estonia for both residential and investment properties. The rates will typically start from around 4.5 percent, although this will vary accordingly. Generally speaking, the maximum mortgage loan you will be able to get is 80 percent of the property value. The standard mortgage term is around 30 years.

The final agreement will now be drawn up for the property. This is basically a transfer of ownership document. Once both parties have signed the document, an application will be made to the Land Register Office to transfer the ownership of the property from the vendor to the buyer. A public notice of the change will then be published in the Official State Gazette.

Click here to find our free guides on the best places to buy in Estonia.

Estonia is rapidly becoming one of the countries of choice for Eastern European foreign property investors – with it’s strong economy, shortage of new property, an up-to-date computerised land registry system, low taxation levels and low levels of corruption, it is no surprise that real estate investors are looking on Estonia favourably.

With Tallinn’s Old Medieval Town included in the World Heritage List as one of the best medieval town centres in Europe, and also having been chosen as the European Capital of Culture for 2011, tourist numbers are expected to increase significantly over the next few years. Naturally, any boost in tourist numbers will be good news for property investors – rental yields in popular areas are expected to be buoyant and, combined with a shortage of good properties, property prices are expected to grow.

The Estonian Government also has a good, open attitude towards foreign property investors and this attitude helps in sales and therefore property prices. Foreign investors are currently free to buy and sell residential properties as they wish.

For those looking to buy, a buy-to-let property in the capital city Tallinn starts from around $100,000 however as the Tourist Board are keen to promote other areas of the country, now is a good time to source some cheap property in up-and-coming areas - Estonia has plenty of potential tourist traps including Lahemaa National Park, beaches, fishing villages and castles, so there are plenty of places to choose from. The island of Hiiumaa houses a number of eminent politicians and businessmen and is worth investigating.

When the law expired, there were fears that if it was not renewed, some investors who had bought real estate but had yet to start building on it, would have scrapped their property plans and moved on to pastures new. However the Panama government has chosen to restore the 20 year property tax exemption on all new constructions with building permits issued before 31 December 2009.

The news has been welcomed by investors as it is expected to keep Panama’s property market on the up. And the law doesn’t just help those constructing properties – if you buy a fairly newly constructed property, any tax exemption left on the building will transfer to it’s new owner. It should be noted, however, that real estate itself is not exempt and continues to have taxes levied on it if it’s value is over $30,000.

Nicaragua currently has some outdated property laws which need reforming as they are over-complicated and contradictory. However some investors are concerned over a proposed new bill.

President Daniel Ortega has said he wants to preserve public access to beaches and also help to protect marine wildlife whilst also being sympathetic to property rights and foreign investment and some are concerned over some of the rumours that are emerging over the property bill. One such rumour is that exclusive rights to beaches may be offered to paying customers with rights extending to up to 50 years at a time.

At the moment, there is little indication over how coastline property developments will be affected. Currently, building is restricted to within 30 metres of the shoreline, but the bill is expected to extend this restricted zone. As a temporary measure until the new laws come in, property titles within 805 metres of the water have been suspended.

Around 95 percent of coastal properties along the coastline belong to overseas investors and many properties have yet to be fully constructed. Many investors fear that the new law will prevent them from building on land that they have already purchased, thus seeing them lose significant amounts of money on their newly purchased real estate.

So, the new laws could be critical to the housing market in Nicaragua – if the new laws do see investors ending up with a lot of useless real estate, it is believed that many of these people will simply pack up their bags and return home and not invest any money into the Nicaraguan property market. However if the legislation does allow them to build on their land, many will be looking to expand their portfolio and therefore bolster the local housing economy.

As it stands, the legislation is a crossroads that will either propel Nicaragua forward as one of Latin America’s foremost property investment hotspots, or have negative repercussions on the real estate market for many years to come.