Good time to buy Europe Property?

The euro is shaping to be the biggest casualty of Switzerland’s decision to scrap its currency cap. 

Soon after the Swiss National Bank unexpectedly ended its three-year policy of keeping the franc weaker than 1.20 per euro, bearish bets on Europe’s common currency soared. While setting a record low versus the franc yesterday, the euro also plunged 3.5 percent against a basket of 10 developed-nation peers, the most since its 1999 debut, and reached an 11-year low against the dollar today. 

The SNB’s decision removes a key pillar of support for the euro, boosting the odds that its recent slide will accelerate. Companies from Goldman Sachs Group Inc. to Pacific Investment Management Co., the world’s biggest manager of active bond funds, have in recent days talked about the euro falling to parity with the dollar, a 14 percent decline from its current level. 

Options Jump 

The difference in the cost of options to sell the euro against the dollar, over those allowing for purchases, jumped by the most in almost two years yesterday, and extended its advance today to the highest since August 2012. 

The euro also sank below parity with the franc yesterday to an all-time low of 85.17 centimes, recovering to 98.88 today. 

In defending its cap on the franc, the SNB almost doubled its holdings of the 19-nation currency to 174.3 billion euros ($202 billion) since September 2011. Speculation the European Central Bank is only days away from announcing a government-bond purchase program, or quantitative easing, at its Jan. 22 meeting had already weakened the euro against its major peers. 

“The euro can’t find a friend for love nor money,” said London-based Kit Juckes, a strategist at Societe Generale SA, which predicts a decline to $1.14 by year-end. When one of the biggest buyers of euros “leaves the building,” losses are inevitable, he said. 

Options traders appear to agree. The premium on three-month contracts to sell the euro versus the dollar, over those to buy, rose 0.4 percentage point in the wake of the SNB announcement and another 0.5 percentage point today. 

That took the cost premium to 2.17 percentage points, 25-delta risk-reversal data compiled by Bloomberg show. Yesterday’s jump was the biggest one-day increase since February 2013. 

The shared currency’s next-biggest daily decline was a drop of 1.6 percent on Jan. 5, 2009, when the dollar surged as details emerged of a U.S. fiscal stimulus plan to tackle the global financial crisis. The franc jumped 21 percent against the basket yesterday as policy makers removed the euro cap.

So, is it a good time to buy properties in Europe??

“I will tell you how to become rich. Close the doors. Be fearful when others are greedy. Be greedy when others are fearful.” – Warren Buffett

Seize the opportunity to buy when prices are low!

7 Reasons to invest in Bangkok

Article abstracted from property guru

Bangkok, in the opinions of many market-watchers, currently offers a potentially lucrative property investment opportunity, although as with all investments buyers should do their due diligence and ensure they are comfortable with their purchase.

What are some of the attractive reasons to buy in Bangkok?

Record prices.
Record-breaking prices were also witnessed in Q3 2014 when CBRE sold a unit at Raimon Land’s 185 Rajdamri development, a project which was completed in Q1 2014, for around THB330,000 per sqm. The firm also sold units at more than THB300,000 per sqm in four other projects.

High numbers of expat tenants.
More than 90 percent of residential tenants in Bangkok with rents in excess of THB20,000 per month are expatriates, and the most recent figures showed that at the end of Q3 2014 there were some 74,000 holders of work permits in Bangkok, a rise of more than 7 percent in the turbulent previous 12 months.

A preference for renting.
The majority of expatriates who work in Thailand prefer to rent rather than purchase property because they are usually only in the city for a few years.

Lack of finance opportunities.
It’s almost impossible for expatriates, even with a solid credit record and work permit, to obtain finance at competitive rates from Thai banks to purchase property in the country. That’s another reason why renting is preferred to buying.

Buy as big as you can.
CBRE predicted that between 30 percent and 40 percent of purchases made at new condominium units in Bangkok during Q3 were made by buy-to-rent investors, with 70 percent of units under construction in downtown Bangkok being one-bedroom units or smaller. Highlighting a significant mismatch in supply and demand, CBRE noted it has seen strong demand for two- and three-bedroom units – with two-bed units are bigger making up a massive 75 percent of its leasing business. It said demand us starting to exceed supply in the bigger-unit.

Join the queue.
For the first time, several agencies have acknowledged the existence of waiting lists at some of the most popular developments in central Bangkok – underlining how the best developments are in demand and are commanding premium prices.

Rates are likely to rise.

Because demand will exceed supply, rental rates that have remained at the same levels for almost 25 years will finally have to rise

Want to know which bangkok property to invest in? Click here.