Every score by Ulster in Saturday's European Cup was passed by word of mouth around the Worldwide Property exhibition in the Burlington Hotel in Dublin, but in between, there was no doubt where the main interest of those present lay. The high-profile rugby match did little to dent the attendance or their focus on property in Spain, Florida and London.
Some exhibitors, many in Dublin for the first time, expressed surprise at the level of interest by Irish investors and potential purchasers in overseas property. "We are in the process of signing two contracts for properties in Florida at the moment," said Sean Collins, managing director of Holiday Homes Abroad Limited. "Three other people are flying out there in the next couple of weeks and, so far, I'd say we have two other sales."
The interest and the money available for overseas investments was also evident to other exhibitors such as Diarmaid Condon of IPC who commented: "A lot of people seem to have a bigger budget to play with than we have found normally at exhibitions like this." He said they normally found about half of the inquiries to their stand were about the Costa del Sol and the remainder about the less expensive Costa Blanca. Last weekend, however, up to 75 per cent of the inquiries related to the Costa del Sol, which has been experiencing a property boom.
His colleague, Steve Williams, who founded the company in England 21 years ago, said people were a lot more specific about what they wanted and seemed to be better informed about what they were looking for. "I think it's a sign of a more mature market," he added.
Exhibitions of overseas property are still relative novelties in Ireland and there remains a degree of wariness about buying in countries in which the legal situation and the home-owning culture is different. Exhibitions like last weekend's two-day event and others scheduled for the coming months are convenient places at which to learn more about what is available, how the property system works in other countries, and the pitfalls to be avoided.
The latter include legal practices in Spain, which can attach debts like hire purchase agreements to the property rather than to an owner, promises of guaranteed rents, and high pressure salesmanship when prospective buyers take up some offers of "free" inspection trips.
Mr Collins, who was selling homes in Florida, said that people were looking for something in which they could believe and, in spite of his company sales at the weekend, that many were spending a long time assessing what they wanted and satisfying themselves about it.
Interestingly, he found the majority of those inquiring were either in their fifties or thirties. The fifty-somethings were primarily interested in somewhere to retire, with a possible rental income for part of the time. The thirty-somethings were more interested in a long-term investment, including adding to their pension portfolios.
More people appeared to be clustered around stands devoted to Spanish or US property than around those offering properties in London, but those showing London property expressed satisfaction at the level of interest and the volume of business they were conducting. The organiser of the show, Mike Bridge, also expressed satisfaction at the response and said that he planned to return to Dublin, Cork and Galway in September.
Among the Irish-based companies specialising in overseas property in areas such as Spain and Florida are IPC (052) 65494; Holiday Homes Abroad (01) 475 3928; and Prestige Villas (Ireland) Ltd (051) 858 932.
