Ski resorts in the Canadian Rockies are experiencing record snow levels.

Sunshine Village has received a dump of 50cm over the last eight days, Norquay 26cm in the last week and Lake Louise Mountain Resort has been blanketed in 35cm.

At Marmot Basin, 42cm of snow has fallen over the last week and more is forecast.

But although snow conditions are excellent, temperatures are around minus 20.

Meanwhile, Europe has not seen major snow fall since the first week of January.

“It has been a bit warm, producing spring conditions,” said Al Morgan from the Ski Club of Great Britain.

“Scandinavia had snow at the weekend so it’s nice and fresh, and more snow is likely this week, but elsewhere the low altitude resorts are suffering from the warmer weather and are getting patchy, so it’s best to head up high.”

He said temperatures in Europe were set to drop towards the end of the week and snow is forecast over the weekend, or early next week. 

Source: Travelmole

Looking for a Canadian Ski Property?

Following on from the Welcome to Bulgaria podcast recorded by Bulgarian Dreams last summer, this in depth tour of Bulgaria’s principal cities and resorts continues with a focus on Bulgaria’s Northern Black sea coast with its craggy cliffs and wild beaches which remains largely unexplored.

This, the second in Bulgarian Dreams podcast series Continue reading ‘Bulgarian Dreams continue their podcast tour of Bulgaria’

2007 should be a bumper year for overseas property agents indicated by a new opinion poll by Populus of 100 high net worth individuals, just over half (51%) of whom say they intend to invest in property overseas this year and would set aside 21% of the expected average bonus of £294,000 towards paying for their international property. A quarter of those looking or intending to buy overseas say they have a budget of £500,000 or more to spend and were more likely to be aged 35 and over.

It appears the moneymaking appeal of emerging property markets is clearly not a priority for the city’s top earners according to the recent poll conducted on behalf of overseas property agents Pure International. 28% of those surveyed put a place in France at the top of their wish lists mentioning it as their overseas property location of choice along with the more traditional overseas home locations of the United States (23%), Italy (21%), Spain (19%), Switzerland (18%) and Canada (15%).

Beach property continues to attract the eye of most city investors when selecting property abroad followed by ski, urban and interestingly golf resort property which lags in fourth place just before rural farmhouse property.

Of the sample group with average salaries of £331,000 polled, almost 60% revealed they already owned at least one property abroad and 29% stated it accounted for at least half of their investment portfolio. Three quarters felt that property is a more secure investment than a pension, two thirds of whom believed that UK property is more valuable than their overseas property.

When asked to rank symbols of achievement in terms of their importance owning a luxury property overseas came fourth above a luxury car and attractive partner!

In Nubricks Overseas Property Podcast 22, the first podcast for 2007, Adam Samuel is joined by Paul Staines, the Director of Saffron Villas, the Morrocan Property specialist. Paul reveals his own Moroccan investments and gives his tips on which projects to watch for in 2007.

Paul explains that in 2001 Morocco’s new King Mohammed VI announced the ‘Azure Plan and Vision 2010’ which intends to increase the tourist numbers into the country from 2 million to 10 million within 10 years. Continue reading ‘Morocco Property Podcast with Paul Staines’

In the last hour the Bank of England has announced that the interest rate has been increased by quarter of a percent to 5.25%.

This was a surprise as many analyists expected the rise later on in the Spring. This will have an impact on homeowners that have borrowed too much and are already stretched.

See the following sources for more detailed reports:

Guardian
BBC News
FT News

If the high cost of travel to Asia is putting you off travelling there you may have to think again as cheap flights to Asia become reality with the start of low cost flights to Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur. Newly branded AirAsia X, part of leading budget carrier AirAsia which currently operates around 200 daily no frills flights to 48 destinations throughout Asia, will be offering direct flights from the UK to Asia beginning in July this year. Using a streamlined online ticketing system via the Air Asia branded website to keep prices low, from February onwards, passengers can book flights starting from as little as £100 for a roundtrip flight with an option to pay extra for increased legroom.

The launch comes on the back of Oasis Hong Kong Airlines inauguration in October 2006, which brought cut-price Far East air travel to the UK with fares from £75 (excluding taxes) for a one-way flight from London Gatwick to Hong Kong. Low cost premium air travel is now on their agenda as they charter business Oasis, an affordable approach to business class air travel.

Most people view Asia as a long haul destination, faraway, somewhere reserved for that extra special holiday or trip of a lifetime. The advent of new carrier’s such as AirAsia X offering flight prices around half those charged by full service airlines, offers the long-haul low-cost traveller a greater choice of service for their travel requirements and gives them greater independence. Low fares attract volume and would pave the way for Asia to strengthen its appeal as a mainstream holiday destination which in turn may create locations that become magnets for overseas property investment. Having used Air Asia myself for cheap travel between Thailand and Kuala Lumpur during my property tour, it is clear that low cost travel into the region, will only serve to boost interest from foreign investors who are already buying into Asian property as shown by the opportunity to buy into Malaysian real estate projects such as the I-Zen development.

From its low–cost terminal at Kuala Lumpur Airport (KLIA) AirAsia X is expected to fly to London Stansted and Manchester in addition to launching a series of daily point-to-point routes to popular destinations in China (Tianjing and Hangzhou), India (Amritsar), Europe (Milan and Berlin), Australia and importantly the Middle East (Abu Dhabi). With an eventual plan to cover routes to West Asia, South America and the United States.

UPDATE:

According to BBC news, those of you keen to book the new Asia X service may have to wait until August 2008. Air Asia X have put the service on hold due to problems leasing the right planes at the right price which points to a lack of planning on the part of Asia X. As overall demand for increased air travel and therefore more planes has pushed up aircraft prices, low cost airlines starting are finding it hard to absorb these higher operating costs in addition to competing with big orders from the larger industry players.

The New Year was filled with even more hope for new EU members, Bulgaria and Romania, which signalled the start of a brighter future for these two former communist countries. As of Monday, 30 million people awoke as brand new Europeans, part of the enlarged EU bloc, now comprising 27 nations. Within hours of membership, officials removed customs barriers at border crossings between Greece, Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary.

Inclusion within the EU, it is believed will have a significant impact on the property markets in both countries. Increased tourism buoyed by easier travel into Bulgaria and Romania will improve the market for second homes in both places. Bulgarians and Romanians living and working abroad will also benefit their home country by bringing greater wealth back into their respective economies and boosting house prices as they seek to invest in property. Finally, by becoming part of a European market place, Bulgaria and Romania will receive economic funding to improve infrastructure, build a more competitive business environment and from a real estate perspective, make buying a property in Bulgaria or Romanian property more transparent.

The first day of the New Year is a double celebratory date as is marks the half-century of the EU since the Treaty of Rome. Fifty years ago, on 25 March 1957 France, West Germany, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg founded the European Economic Community, the main forebear of the EU. Monday, January 1st 2007 was also the start date for Germany’s presidency of the G8 whose summit will be held this year in Heliendamm and also as leader of the Council of the European Union which rotates between its now 27 members. Germany takes over from Finland and will pass on the role to Portugal on 1st July 2007 and then Slovenia who will take over on 1st January 2008 and together share the trio presidency for 2007/2008 period.

Slovenia marks the start of the 2007 by becoming the thirteenth country to join the euro and the single currency’s first expansion following its introduction in January 2002 which brings the Eurozone population to more than 316 million. The country’s changeover operation looks set to be smooth however Slovenians are urged to beware of price rises. Today 1 € or Euro is worth 239,640 SIT or Slovenian Tolar.

During its six month presidency Germany aims to make headway reviving the planned EU constitution which it believes will be a framework for Europe in the future to tackle the challenges of globalization and international trade. With a new leader Angela Merkel and an economy on the up, Germany’s prospects for 2007 look favourable.