Luxury European Real Estate Back in Vogue

In the last couple of years as the recession and the age of austerity took hold, a trend for 'wealth whispering' - or buying pared-down, simple homes to not make a show of one's wealth - was rife among the super rich. Needless to say, this was not good news for the European property market, with traditionally popular markets such as the ski playground of Switzerland and even the lush French Riviera experiencing downturns. Luckily - as perhaps we all suspected - those at the higher end of the earnings scale could not resist the lure of a high-end luxury property for long, as British estate agent Knight Frank reports.

"Wealthy residents from a growing number of countries are investing more of their portfolios in luxury residential property across a wide range of locations", says Liam Bailey, the group's head of residential research. As 2010 drew to a close, Knight Frank reported an increase in enquiries across the top price bracket of their overseas property sector, as investors seek to cash in on significantly lower prices than the boom years of 2007/8.

While new markets such as Cape Town and Sydney have also come to the fore, the more traditional European markets are seeing increased enquiries as well. Bailey mentioned the Swiss ski resort town of St Moritz, the Cap Ferrat in the French Riviera - where Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie will soon make a permanent move - and the Portuguese golf haven of the Algarve as hot spots for top-end buyers seeking luxury lifestyle properties for vacations or retirement.

For the discerning big-ticket buyer, Eurobrix has a number of excellent prestige properties for sale in all your favourite European areas. A beautifully finished two-bedroom apartment right by the water in the celeb-filled Riviera town of Antibes is listed for around 1.15 million euros, while a remarkable clifftop villa in the western Algarve is selling for 2.85 million euros.

About the author:

Yuri Brixenmortar is the author of Eurobrix Blog. He loves real estate so when the guys at www.eurobrix.com asked him to join the team and help promote European property and real estate around the world, he couldn't say no. He finds it interesting to look at other peoples' houses, apartments and castles.