There is an old joke among economists that states; a recession is when you neighbour loses his job, a depression is when you lose your job. But economist humour aside, recession equates to two quarters of negative growth as we know only too well in Ireland. During the past week Germany and France announced that both countries were moving into positive growth territory. The German economy expects to grow modestly in the remaining part of 2009 and the forecasts are for modest growth in 2010 and strong growth in 2011.
In these days of troubled financial markets investing in German real estate is becoming increasingly popular among international property investors. Germany suffered its "property hangover "in the years following reunification and the market has slowly recovered since that point. By contrast other markets such as Ireland, the UK and Spain experienced a property boom which led to a property bubble and the severe correction we are now living through.
A more restrained attitude to borrowing and spending has also left Germany less exposed to the credit crunch than many of its peers. Years of careful spending and saving have made the German economy one of the healthiest in Europe. These factors, allied to the lowest unemployment rate in 16 years, low interest rates and high yields make it an attractive property market offering high returns in a strong economy and safe investment environment.
Insight Property Ltd., the Limerick city-based property consultancy which was established in 2004. The company specialises in providing its clients with investment property opportunities in the German commercial and residential sectors starting from around €200,000. This is complemented by additional services such as letting and property management, German tax auditing, legal and notary services as well as introductions to German banks/lenders.
The directors of Insight Property Ltd. are Martin Golden who was Managing Director of Snap Printing Mid West from 1995 to 2005 and previously worked as chartered accountant with KPMG and Ernst & Young and as financial controller. Fellow directors Paschal O'Flaherty and Dermot Power have extensive banking experience with First Active pIc at branch, regional and executive management levels. Dermot was formerly Head of Retail Operations & Special Projects, while Paschal was Head of Direct Services UK for First Active. In 2006, the Insight Property Ltd. team was complemented by Karl Apsel, a German citizen resident in Ireland since 1993. Karl has under- and postgraduate degrees in law from University of Limerick and extensive experience in the property markets in both Germany and Ireland.
Insight Property Ltd. is a member of the German Property Experts Group (GPE) at the German-Irish Chamber of Trade and Commerce, Dublin, since 2007. The GPE is a selected group of vetted German and Irish professionals, such as real estate agents, bankers, tax advisors and lawyers that make their expertise available to Irish investors in the German property market.
Martin Golden, Director
Insight Property Ltd.
For more information on Insight Property Ltd. visit the website at www.insightproperty.net