Splashing out on a place in the sun has become a major occupation with Irish buyers - so much so that overseas property companies are setting up branches in Ireland to cater for the unprecedented boom. Since January, Hamilton Osborne King - one of the largest Irish agents for overseas property - has grossed more than £30 million in sales, mostly in Spain and Portugal.
Buyers are finding that their money goes further abroad, and particularly in Spain and Portugal where villas and apartments in attractive resorts start at well under £100,000. For the cost of a four-bed semi in a Dublin suburb, you could buy a ready-to-walk-into villa with a pool in many of the popular sunshine destinations. Double the price and a French chateau in reasonable condition is not out of the question.
Most buyers are attracted by the prospect of a sunny getaway from grey Irish winters and unreliable summers. The current selling push on foreign properties is attracting dozens of potential purchasers each week, many of whom fly out on one of the viewing trips organised by estate agents.
A five-day inspection trip to the Costa Del Sol costs around £250, including food, accommodation and viewings. Many close to retirement age are buying near a championship golf course and young families prefer beachfront apartments and villas. While Spain is experiencing the greatest upsurge in Irish business, Portugal, Italy, France, Greece and the US are all targeted by buyers with money to spend. So much so that a number of Irish agents are diversifying into foreign property and UK property companies are setting up Irish-based offices to meet the demand. Spain took off in a big way in 1999 and sales so far this year are equally brisk. Ireland is second only to Germany as a source of sales, according to one Marbella agent. Marbella attracts a large number of well-off Irish buyers because it's easy to get to, there is good golf in the area and it is familiar territory for holidays.
The downside is that prices are rising - you won't get anything for less than £90,000 around Marbella now and property has gone distinctly upmarket. Villas and apartments usually come with air conditioning, marble floors and state-of-the-art pools.
It's a good letting area - anyone buying beside one of the world-class golf courses is virtually guaranteed all-year-round rental income. Sotogrande, one of the best-known golf and marina developments on the strip between Marbella and Gibraltar, has a number of Irish household names among its resident owners.
Property consultant Jill Kennedy is selling in a number of beachside developments on Costa del Sol's new golden mile, between Marbella and Estepona. Prices are up 25 per cent on last year but there is still good value to be found, she says. However, with a new two-bedroom apartment on this coast averaging out at £150,000, prices seem to be inching up to Dublin city levels.
The Costa Brava is less exclusive - you can find some studio apartments in this area for £40,000. Investors are thin on the ground here - most buyers are people with "a few bob" looking for an affordable place in the sun.
We've seen it all before. Back in the 1980s, there was a similar boom in Spanish property and Irish investors poured millions of pounds into the Costa del Sol and the Costa Brava.
However, the market declined rapidly and resale values plummeted, leaving many buyers stranded.
The current market, agents stress, is different, with better quality developments ensuring good, long-term investment potential.
However, buyers should be careful about the type of development they buy into. Unless they know the area and the development very well, they should visit it to check if it lives up to descriptions, particularly with lower priced schemes.
In more expensive developments, such as those in golf resorts near Marbella and in Portugal's Algarve, buyers are likely to be affluent young and middle aged couples who have seen the value of their Irish home or investments rise significantly in recent years. According to Hamilton Osborne King, people frequently use the increased equity in their Irish home as collateral for an overseas purchase.
Portugal is at the top end of the market and quieter, with golf the main attraction. Hamilton Osborne sold 15 luxury villas ranging in price from £500,000 to £700,000 at a recent holiday exhibition in Dublin. These were in exclusive Quinta do Lago development in the Algarve.
Since the heady days of the 1990 World Cup, Irish people have had a soft spot for Italy. Linda Travella, first woman chairman of the Federation of Overseas Property Developers, Agents and Consultants (FOPDAC), has had three Irish couples viewing houses in Liguria in the past week.
The big draw, she says, is the area's proximity to the French Mediterranean and Nice airport in particular. Low prices are another plus - averaging £47,000 for a habitable two-bedroom house with a roof terrace 10 kilometres from the coast.
All agents dealing in overseas property agree that ease of travel to the destination is a key factor in people's decision to purchase.
French property company Proprietes Roussillon, for instance, has had a "staggering" number of enquiries from Ireland since Ryanair announced its new Dublin to Perpignan route. A Donegal couple have just put a deposit on a house in south-west France, another in Normandy and a group of prospective Irish buyers is scheduled to fly out over the Easter holidays.
Paris, although more expensive, has unbeatable rental potential, although buyers must beware of the different tenants' rights there. People are buying Paris apartments as part of their pension plan says HOK. A two-bedroom apartment in a good arondissement half a mile from the Arc de Triomphe can be bought for £175,000.
Florida has always had a big Irish following. Delta Airlines flights to Atlanta and onwards to Florida means Irish owners can get there in one day. Monaghan-born Kevin Macklin of Palm Beach Mortgage and Real Estate has been selling property on Jupiter Island - a top-notch Palm Beach resort - for several years, mainly to Irish buyers. Stars such as Celine Dion, Tom Cruise and fashion guru Ralph Lauren own homes in the area.
Buyers can find a three-bedroom townhouse with a pool here for $160,000 (£130,000 approx) - less than most Dublin city centre apartments. Closer to Orlando although less exclusive, families with young Disney fans can buy two-bedroom and threebedroom villas with pools through HD International Properties from £90,000. HD, a UK-based company which opened an office in Cork three years ago, also sells in Portugal and Spain.
With the average American moving house every five years, many prefer to rent, so rental prospects in the US are strong. Property tends not to fluctuate in price and holds its value better, say most agents selling here.
Kay and Tommy Hart of Monaghan have just paid $225,000 (£184,000) for a three-bedroom bungalow with a pool in a Palm Beach complex, which they will use for family holidays. "We thought of buying in Portugal or Spain, but its more expensive and there is the language barrier. We'll get the Delta flight over here as often as we can. It is paradise" says Kay Hart.
