There are a number of estate organisations operating in New England, including GMAC Real Estate. Many of these organisations operate by utilising the franchise model, which can benefit those groups who would like to get involved in the real estate market, but do not want to open themselves to the risk potential that starting up a business could bring.

People looking to get involved in the potentially lucrative New England freelancing model might like to set up a franchise business in their own locality. This will entail a franchise-operating estate agency granting a license to a franchisee to make use of their own trading package. With estate agencies sharing a percentage of the sale when selling a property, it is in their interest to have access to local markets. And with the franchisee potentially benefiting from the brand identity of the estate agent and its national advertising possibilities, it is not hard to see why the franchise partnership could be a successful one.

The New England property market might not be as buoyant as those levels experienced in the first part of the decade, with property prices predicted to experience a greater downturn than in other parts of the US during 2007. However, this does not necessarily mean that a real estate franchisee should suffer, with some commentators speculating that a buyer’s market is developing. According to Boston-based sales agent John Schwagerl: “The phones are ringing less. But when they ring, there’s more work involved with it,” reports Boston.com.

Setting up a franchise-run business could be an invaluable experience for an entrepreneur, but they will have to persuade the franchisor that they are capable of running a smoothly operating business. For an initial fee, a franchisor may provide a great deal of assistance to a real estate entrepreneur. However, the franchisee will have to demonstrate that they have established a carefully thought out initial capital plan. Having set up such a partnership, the franchisee could be set to benefit from the real estate group’s expertise and brand identity.

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Foreign Property Buyer stated that demand for temporary lodgings is likely to go up significantly as a result of government efforts to attract more visitors.

This means that buy-to-let investors will be able to enjoy higher occupancy rates and collect larger rental yields.

However, the website suggested that since the government is opening up different parts of the country to holidaymakers, these areas could offer a number of good investment opportunities.

Foreign Property Buyer commented: “The whole of Turkey is being promoted, rather than just the coastal locations.”

The online portal said this would result in house price inflation and increased rental yields in all areas, including as-yet untapped markets.

Turkey’s government is currently aiming to increase the annual number of foreign arrivals from 23 million to 50 million in the next 15 years.

According to A Semana, TAP Air Portugal will offer passage between Lisbon and Praia seven days a week.

The carrier began providing direct flights between the two cities in October 2007, although the service currently operates four times a week.

Luiz Mor, spokesperson for TAP, commented: “We’re going to begin incentive programs – electing Cape Verde as the destination of the month.”

This, he stated, would form part of a greater effort to increase tourism in Africa.

According to figures from the airline, the number of passengers that TAP has transported to African countries went up by a quarter last month, making it a highly lucrative location for the carrier.

This also suggests that Africa’s tourist market is expanding at a considerable rate, which will be a positive development for rental investors in places such as Cape Verde.

According to Sarah Brown from NuBricks.com, accessibility improvements have led to the country attracting a record number of foreign visitors.

Currency exchange firm HiFX said that last year, the country accounted for more than a quarter of all the enquiries it received from prospective buyers.

Ski resorts such as Meribel and Courchevel were highlighted as especially popular locations, despite their relatively high property values.

Mark Bodega, director of HiFX, commented: “Prices are higher in well-established resorts but the rental yields also remain consistently high.”

He added that France’s close proximity to the UK was one of the main reasons for its popularity among British buyers.

In addition, he said the fact it is serviced by numerous low-cost airlines has also helped draw people to the country.

Access to France was recently improved further with the introduction of a high-speed rail link by Eurostar.

The service, which runs between London and Paris, allows people to travel from one city to the other in just two hours and 15 minutes.

This was attributed to a number of different factors, such as increasing personal wealth among the country’s population and greater demand for property.

Officials added that Brazil also saw higher levels of consumer spending and business development last year.

However, the increase itself was not the only notable aspect of the figures, as the rate of growth was also found to have gone up.

Economic expansion in 2006 was rated at 3.8 per cent, which means the Brazilian economy is now growing at a faster rate.

This is likely to be good news for owners of property in Brazil, as it suggests that investors could possibly get high returns.

Brazil was recently highlighted by the Foreign Property Website as a location that offered strong investment potential.

According to the online portal, rising land prices were pushing up the value of property in many areas.

Brooklands Group said the good attendance at the A Place in the Sun Live event highlighted the continued demand for property abroad.

This show, which was held in Manchester earlier this month, was the first to be held in the north-east of England.

Darren Styles, chief executive of Brooklands Group, said its success showed that industry commentators were wrong to suggest that an exhibition in the city would not work.

He added that the analysts were also wrong in saying that the foreign property market has been brought to a standstill by problems in the global economy.

Mr Styles commented: “It’s a fantastic start to the 2008 UK show calendar and augurs well for our return to London at the end of April.”

According to A Place in the Sun magazine, Spain, France and Turkey are currently the three most popular locations among overseas property buyers in the UK.

According to TNS Travel and Tourism, millions of leisure travellers from the UK are still preparing to make their annual trips abroad, reports Travel Weekly.

This is despite people’s finances being constrained by the slowdown in the worldwide economy, which has led to fears of a possible recession.

Since one in five people said they plan to have more than two holidays this year, this suggests that consumers have made a trip abroad one of their financial priorities.

Tom Costley of TNS commented: “This data highlights a number of trends that suggest the UK holiday market appears resilient in the face of the economic downturn.”

Countries along the Mediterranean coast were found to be especially popular locations, with 27 per cent booking a week-long stay in places such as Italy, Spain and Turkey.

This comes after Murat Dedeman, head of the Turkish Tourism Investors Association, told Reuters that holidays have become a “necessity” for many people.

AIPP’s annual research report is possibly the only independent, authoritative and definitive market report of its kind in the UK. In its 2007 edition, the Association saw Spain come out on top, being the country where the most British buyers have completed overseas property purchases.

Over 25.4% of properties purchased by British buyers in 2007 were in the beautiful Spain. And although the country remains king to most UK buyers, the market in Spain is down 6.2% compared with 2006 figures

Established destinations continue to hold the top spots in the ranking; 17% of UK buyers chose property in France as their preferred purchase although this market has also seen a fall of 1.9% in 2007.

Surprisingly, third place went to theUSA with an increasing 9.7% of the UK buyers’ market share. Likewise, the country is the only established market augmenting its market share, up 2.2% from 2006. The figures correlate with those recently published by NAR, the American National Association of Realtors, who saw most internationals purchase real estate in Florida being carried out by UK citizens (33%).

AIPP comments: “It is clear that once again the established destinations are holding up well against the huge number of emerging markets.” With Spain, France and USA amounting to 52.1% of the market share, Paul Owen, Chief Executive of the AIPP, continues to explain: “When we add in other established markets like Italy, Portugal and Cyprus, nearly 2/3rds of property purchases last year were in established, familiar markets.” However, the last three countries appear in rankings 7-9, beaten by new emerging destinations.

The new kid on the block is Morocco, in 5th place, with a healthy market share of 4.9%. Dubai follows directly behind in sixth place although the emirate has been the overall winner, seeing the largest increase of UK market share, up to 4.8% from a mere 1.5% in 2006.

Finally, Mr. Owen concludes: “The market needs factual data. Previously, there has not been an official body with the time, knowledge and desire to produce information; the AIPP fills that void.”

According to a report by the Urban Land Institute and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), cities such as London and Paris are becoming less popular with foreign property buyers.

The British capital has fallen out of a list of the top ten locations for the first time in the history of the annual survey.

This coincided with a surge in the popularity of places such as Istanbul, where investors are optimistic about the chances of collecting strong returns.

John Forbes, head of real estate at PwC, said this showed there is an “increasing appetite” for emerging markets.

He told Bloomberg: ”Russia and Turkey are regarded in the same way as the India of Europe. They are top for economic growth.”

This comes after the Association of International Property Professionals revealed that the number of overseas transactions went up by 21 per cent to 240,000 last year.

Sarah Brown from NuBricks.com said the country is currently attracting a record number of foreign visitors as it is now more easily accessible.

She stated that this has resulted in the creation of extra leisure facilities and amenities, such as supermarkets, bars and recreational outlets.

In addition, she said property in Cape Verde has also benefited from investment in various infrastructure improvements across the country.

This means the archipelago now offers the living standards and convenience demanded by foreign visitors.

As a result, it has become a popular choice for overseas property investors and second home buyers from abroad.

Ms Brown remarked: “Cape Verde has become something of a magnet for property investors.”

According to the Office for National Statistics, about 848,000 people from the UK currently own a second home abroad.