Top of the Props: Cape Verde catapults back into top 10

Cape Verde has catapulted back into the top 10 in the TheMoveChannel.com's latest Top of the Props report. While Spain and the USA continue to compete for the number one slot, the tiny islands saw a surge of interest at the start of 2012, jumping 18 places to become the seventh most popular destination on the overseas property portal.

Cape Verde attracted 3.67 per cent of the site's enquiries in January, an increase of 2.8 per cent from the month before. That may not be enough to knock Spain off its pedestal, but Cape Verde's climb has seen the islands upset the established pecking order for the second time in the past year. In August 2011, the country rose five spots to break into the bottom of the top 10. Now, it's back, climbing even higher in the chart to beat both Turkey and Brazil, ranking just below last year's newcomer Bulgaria.

The USA saw a similar increase, reversing December's popularity dip to hop above Portugal and France and claim back its second spot. But while America's low property prices and signs of market recovery were enough to attract buyers away from Europe, the outlook may be even brighter for Cape Verde, where GDP is projected by the World Bank to reach 6.8 per cent in 2012.
Director Dan Johnson comments: "Cape Verde keeps returning to TheMoveChannel.com's top 10 despite any major marketing push from agents and developers. At the start of a new year, the principal property players are still the same, but some investors simply aren't interested in Spain or America. With its building tourist numbers and relatively un-crowded real estate market, Cape Verde's imbalance between supply and demand is seeing these buyers turn to somewhere smaller in the hope of bigger returns."

http://www.themovechannel.com/news/e30a9ceb-f1ad/