XVI Moscow International Property Show

Real estate market participants know that Moscow International Property Show happens in April regardless of the economic climate. The aigroup company has been organizing the event for 8 years now, each time gathering a full house at the "Tishinka" TC. The fact that the event will happen for the 16th time on 8&9 April 2011 speaks for itself. The show is in high demand among both exhibitors and visitors.

To really understand the amount of effort put in by the event organizers, one needs to look back to 2003, when Property Show started. There were no signs of price boom in place yet, and international property purchase was perceived as either a caprice of the wealthy or capital evacuation scheme. The aigroup company has worked extensively on forming the proper market environment to introduce the very terms "buyer" and "investor", and to make international property transactions accessible to the general public.

Speaking of the last shows, one of the experts noted that "budget" offers are much more common now - in comparison to the previous years. That observation is definitely correct. The "elite" properties have previously dominated the market almost unconditionally, with the most expensive properties primarily placed on the market through the exhibitions. At the moment, however, relatively affordable purchases are becoming quite popular, with many listings valued at ˆ200 -100 thousand, and sometimes even ˆ50 thousand.

The geographical variety of the offers not just expanded, but has completely changed. A mere 5-7 years ago, the Russians would mostly purchase European properties, choosing Spain, France, UK and Cyprus destinations. There is not a continent now where the Russian buyer has not set foot yet. For example, 2010 exhibitions say strong interest in Thailand, as well as in Brazil, Central America, Balkans and Africa. Russians are not perplexed by the distances, purchasing homes and apartments in Dominical Republic and Egypt, New Zealand and Tunisia, not to mention the neighboring countries - Bulgaria and Finland, as well as the quite near Turkey and Montenegro.

There has been a general change of climate, for a variety of reasons - maturing market, emergence of new buyer and investor types, and, of course, the crisis. Strangely, the international properties segment has actually benefited from the crisis. Many Russians, in search of investment opportunities, or simply facing the capital preservation problem in the inflationary economy, were drawn to such a reliable investment tool as international property. This tendency is confirmed by the aigroup records from Fall 2008 period. With the overall slump in the business activity, the number of aigroup exhibitions participants grows. In November 2010, exhibition in the "Tishinka" TC saw 8,000 visitors - an unheard of number for any event in this segment (regardless of any fantastic figures that might be claimed by other organizers).

Of course the international property is attracting some interest by definition, however, without the thorough organizational work, those visitors that dropped by regardless will not be there for the next year's event. To prevent this, aigroup is making a significant effort to offer the visitors the most comprehensive set of service. As aigroup CEO Kim Waddoup says, "the primary focus of the exhibition should be to create an environment for the professionals to exchange information and facilitate deals". For exhibitors, this means maximum comfort and attention. For the visitors, this is the opportunity to not only familiarize themselves with the full spectrum of the offers, but also access to the required consultations. While the deals are not typically made during the actual exhibition time, according to the professionals, within about two months from the event, results will come in, revealing the leads that have resulted in real transactions. Judging by almost no change in the core exhibitors, participating companies see the practical benefits, returning to "Tishinka" again and again; and we have already mentioned the significant growth in visitor numbers.

The preparations for the spring exhibition season of aigroup are fully underway. While the professional sector analysts are currently refraining from any type of prognosis for the spring 2011 real estate market, there is no doubt that the international properties segment will remain in the center of buyers and investors attention, and the Moscow International Property Show is on April 8-9th, 2011 at the "Tishinka" TC.

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