France and Spain, traditional favourites for British property buyers, are losing out to a handful of emerging markets such as Bulgaria, Dubai and Cape Verde, a survey shows.

The annual global property hot sport report, recently released by currency specialists HiFX, puts the shift partly down to a new spirit of adventurousness in British buyers.

"In many cases the emerging markets offer property, which is significantly less expensive than the traditional favourites," Mark Bodega, marketing director of HiFX, commented.

"As UK property prices have continued to rise dramatically in the UK over the last 12 months, combined with rising interest rates, we've seen the overseas property market open up and become accessible to more of the UK population."

The company also puts the rise in interest in more exotic destinations down to a shift away from people purely buying holiday homes towards more serious property investors.

"As people look to where they can make the most money and returns, they are more likely to look away from the traditional markets to areas of expansion and new development", says Bodega.

"We've seen properties in the emerging markets snapped up by investors in 2006. Bulgaria remains a popular investment destination with investors keen to cash in when it joined the EU and we're seeing a consistent amount of interest in Romania for the same reason."

Source: www.novinite.com