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Russians Bolster Luxury Property Market

According to the New York Times, many Russians are now choosing to diversify their portfolios investing heavily overseas. A negative business climate coupled with the less-than-transparent Russian economic policy means that an outflow of capital from Russia has been increasing. It is reported that 46% of the value of Russia's RTS index was wiped out in the last week alone.

Such instability recently led Standard and Poor's, the credit rating agency, to lower Russia's future credit rating down from "positive" to "stable", something that is bound to affect Russian confidence in their own market.

In response, many Russians are now putting part of their money into luxury properties around the world. Hadleigh Bolt, a developer of high end properties on Spain's Costa del Sol, says the increase of Russian buyers has been noticeable. "We've seen a certain rise in the number of Russian nationals expressing interest in our bespoke properties... [High-end property] offers enormous appeal to affluent Russians due to heightened security measures, the countryside environment, direct air access to Malaga and, of course, year-round warm weather.

Obelisk's Market Analyst, James Gonzalez, believes that the outflow of funds from Russia is becoming more important to the international investment market. "We have already seen the effect of Russian investment on the high end property market in Spain. As their needs to diversify increase, I can also see Russian influence growing in lucrative emerging markets like Brazil. They are investors who know a bargain when they see it."

According to Overseas Property Professional, the outflow of capital in August 2008 alone equalled 1% of Russia's GDP or US$13 billion.

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