Emerging Europe attracts investors

Wednesday March 12th , 2008

Foreign investors are increasingly favouring less-established European markets, according to a new report.

A study by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and the Urban Land Institute revealed that countries such as Turkey are attracting more and more attention from overseas.

Istanbul was highlighted as a particular hotspot, as it offers attractions including a rapidly expanding economy.

The study added that investors are likely to achieve higher returns in the Turkish city than in places such as Paris and London.

In fact, the UK capital has now dropped out of the top ten for the first time in the history of this annual survey.

John Forbes, head of real estate at PwC, told Bloomberg: "'There is an increasing appetite for emerging markets."

This comes after Today's Zaman revealed that the government wants Istanbul to be Europe's Capital of Culture in 2010.

The newspaper said that considerable sums of money are currently being spent on restoring and conserving sites of local, cultural and artistic interest.